Assessment of Yıeld and Fruıt Qualıty of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) under Defıcıt Irrıgatıon in the Agro-Ecologıcal Tropıcal Zone

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the growth and yield performance of cucumber to deficit irrigation. The research was carried out in a screen house on the Teaching and Research Farm of Agricultural Engineering Department, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. The experiment was a complete block design which comprised of four treatments and four replicates. The treatments were: T1, T2, T3 and T4 irrigated at 100 % ET, 80 % ET, 60 % ET and 40 % ET respectively using drip irrigation. Soil and agronomic parameters were determined and results were subjected to statistical analysis. The result showed that T1 (100 %) had the highest plant height and the highest number of leaves of 107 cm and 15 respectively, T2 (80 %) produced the highest cucumber fruit yield of 1059.3 kg/ha with average length and average diameter of 18.33 cm and 5.87 cm respectively while T4 (40 %) produced the lowest yield of 85.2 kg/ha with an average fruit length and diameter of 8.4 cm and 2.86 cm respectively. Thus, with 80 % water application, cucumber can produce the highest fruit yield and water use efficiency