Desempenho de cultivares de melancia nas condições do cerrado de Roraima

Abstract

Watermelon is a crop widespread in all regions of Brazil. In Roraima, its cultivation comes as an alternative exploration of State cerrado areas with a view to the favorable soil and weather conditions, which allow the cultivation during much of the year. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate the agronomic performance of twelve watermelon cultivars produced at conditions of Roraima cerrado. The experiment was conducted in the experimental field of Água Boa Embrapa Roraima, city of Boa Vista city from december 2014 to february 2015. The experimental design was a randomized block with four replications and six plants per plot. The treatments consisted of cultivars: Combat, Conquista, Verena, Congo, Magnum, Electra, Santa Amélia, Explore, Emperor, Crimson Select Plus, Charleston Gray Super and Omaru Yamato. Evaluated the productive characteristics, seed characteristics and fruit quality characteristics. The data were submitted to normality test. When normal, applied to analysis of variance. The average of the cultivars were compared by Scott-Knott test at 5% probability. It was the largest number of fruits on the cultivars Crimson Select Plus, Santa Amélia and Emperor, to 6,425.0, 6,350.0 and 5,875.0 fruit ha-1, respectively. The highest yield was obtained by the cultivar Crimson Select Plus, with 67,848.25 kg ha-1. The average fruit weight ranged from 12.33 ('Magnum’) to 8.26 kg ('Omaru Yamato'). The largest number of seeds was detected in cultivars Santa Amelia and Explore with 1,129.75 and 1,010.75 seeds fruit-1, respectively, while the higher seed weight was observed in 'Charleston Gray Super' with 82.30 g fruit-1. As for the quality of the fruit, the pulp firmness ranged from 14.52 (Magnum) to 10.66 N (Omaru Yamato), as to the thickness of the shell to grow Congo had a higher average (2.62 cm). It was not verified difference in soluble solids content between cultivars, however, the values ​​were relatively high and fit into the standard demanded by the market (>10°Brix). It was concluded that the cultivar Crimson Select Plus has a higher yield of fruits at conditions of Roraima cerrado. The seed characteristics vary depending on the cultivars, with higher amounts in 'Santa Amélia' and 'Explore' and most massive in 'Charleston Gray Super'. The Magnum cultivars, Explore, Charleston Gray Super, Santa Amélia, Crimson Select Plus and Verena have fruits with greater firmness, while cultivating Congo has greater skin thickness. There is no difference in soluble solids content between cultivars. The watermelon Crimson Select Plus cultivars, Santa Amelia and Explore have high potential for cultivation in soil and climatic conditions of the Savanna of Roraima.