Table 1.
Total yield, water productivity (WP), fertilizer cost, and substrate cost of netted melon fruits grown under different combinations of cultivar (C), substrate volume (S), and planting density (D).
| Cultivar | Substrate volume (L) | Planting density | Total yield (kg/10a) | WPz (kg/m3) | Fertilizer cost (10a/USD) | Substrate cost (10a/USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‘Dalgona’ | 10 | 3 | 2712 cy | 4.1 a | 804.8 | 1085.4 |
| 4 | 3466 a | 3.3 c | 1085.4 | |||
| 20 | 3 | 2477 d | 3.7 b | 1392.9 | ||
| 4 | 3141 b | 3.1 d | 1392.9 | |||
| ‘Hero’ | 10 | 3 | 3552 c | 5.4 a | 804.8 | 1085.4 |
| 4 | 4339 a | 4.2 c | 1085.4 | |||
| 20 | 3 | 3225 d | 4.8 b | 1392.9 | ||
| 4 | 3846 b | 3.8 d | 1392.9 | |||
| ‘Kingstar’ | 10 | 3 | 3735 a | 5.7 a | 804.8 | 1085.4 |
| 4 | 4161 a | 4.0 c | 1085.4 | |||
| 20 | 3 | 3220 b | 4.8 b | 1392.9 | ||
| 4 | 4101 a | 4.1 c | 1392.9 | |||
| ‘F-test’ | C | *** | *** | – | – | |
| S | *** | *** | ||||
| D | *** | *** | ||||
| C×S | NS | NS | ||||
| C×D | NS | *** | ||||
| S×D | NS | *** | ||||
| C×S×D | ** | ** | ||||
zWater productivity (WP) was calculated as the total fruit yield (kg/10a) divided by the total amount of irrigation water supplied (m3/10a).
yMean separation within columns by Tukey’s HSD test at P ≤ 0.05.
NS, *, **, ***: Not significant or significant at P < 0.05, 0.01, and 0.001, respectively.