Scientists Size up Watermelons To Help Improve Organic Vegetable Production
Consumer interest in organically produced fruits and vegetables is growing and to help growers meet this demand, Clemson University scientists are studying watermelon production methods to develop strategies to improve productivity and profitability of organic vegetables.
The team is led by Bhupinder Jatana, a researcher at the Edisto Research and Education Center in Blackville, SC, and Assistant Professor of vegetable crops in the university’s plant and environmental sciences department.
Funding for the project is provided by a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant to address challenges such as crop nutrition management and controlling diseases and weeds in organic vegetable production.
Watermelon was selected as the crop for the study because it uses the same cultural and other management practices as other organic crops grown under plastic mulch, such as cucumbers, muskmelons, pumpkins, and other cucurbits. Using plastic mulch is a common cultural practice in organic farming. Cultural practices are agricultural methods used to enhance crop productivity through conserving water and soil by reducing weeds, pests and diseases without the use of chemicals.
“Our long-term goal is to develop organic fertilizers and strategies for higher nutrient-use efficiency, as well as weed and soilborne pest management,” Jatana says.
Organic watermelon contributed to about 1.3% of the total watermelon sold in the U.S. in 2021.
“Even though the future of organic watermelon looks promising, it’s plagued by management challenges of nutrients, weeds and soilborne pests,” Jatana adds.
During the study, the scientists will study crop nutrition. One of the difficulties in managing crop nutrition in organic production systems occurs because of a timing difference between the nutrient release rate of organic fertilizers and peak plant nutrient demand. For organic vegetable growers, this timing difference doesn’t allow enough nutrients to support periods of rapid crop growth, which can result in yield loss or decreased crop quality.
The scientists will develop new fertilizers using concentrated organic agricultural byproduct materials. Multiple organic agricultural byproduct materials will be tested. The scientists also will use various soil amendments to increase the retention of soil nutrients so that these nutrients are available for crop uptake for a longer period, allowing for higher nutrient-use efficiency.
In addition to challenges with nutrient management, diseases and weeds also result in substantial losses of organic vegetables worldwide. As part of this study, the scientists will pair the new fertilizers with novel plastic mulch, or new plastic mulch materials coming to the market such as biodegradable materials and so on, for controlling weeds and soilborne pests. They will use organic carbon amendments and irrigation under the plastic mulch to create an anaerobic condition known as anaerobic soil disinfestation, or ASD.
For more, continue reading at news.clemson.edu.
Subscribe Today For
