Application of Increasing Yield and Quality of Melon Crops

Subjected to Regulated Deficit Irrigation

Xuan Li

, Hengjia Zhang

and Fuqiang Li

College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Gansu Agricultural University,

Lanzhou, Gansu, 730070, China

Corresponding author

Keywords: Yield, Quality, Regulated Deficit Irrigation, Melon Crops.

Abstract: Over the past half-century, China's irrigation technology has gradually stepped from simply translating and

imitating foreign advanced technology to specific China-style irrigation technology characterized by

distinctive features, local conditions-orient and inheritance reform. In the context of global warming,

regulated deficit irrigation technology is also crucial to attenuate the emission and absorption of key

greenhouse gases at the farmland scale. Based on the state-of-the-art research of regulated deficit irrigation

technology, the influence of the regulated deficit irrigation technology on the growth of crop, yield, water use

efficiency, and quality of melon crops were investigated. The internal mechanism of increasing yield and

regulating the quality of regulated deficit irrigation technology system was clarified. Finally, the shortcomings

and limitations in the development, demonstration and promotion of regulated deficit irrigation technology

were analysed, and the idea by combining regulated deficit irrigation technology with modern information

technology was proposed, which would serve as an important guidance for the development of agriculture in

future. Hopefully the present work can provide theoretical support for the sustainable development and system

management of dry land agriculture systems.

1 INTRODUCTION

Water resources not only affect the global ecological

environment, but also as an important strategic

resource for human survival and development, the

amount of which directly affects the social process.

With a series of natural pressures increasing, such as

global warming, increasing population and serious

soil desertification, the contradiction between supply

and demand of water resources has become

increasingly prominent. Therefore, the supply-

demand relationship of water resources has become

the focus of current social attention. The total amount

of water resources in China ranks sixth in the world.

However, due to the large population, the per capita

water resources are only 1/3 of the global per capita

water resources, ranking 110th in the world, and the

per capita water demand is seriously insufficient

(Huang 2020). At the same time, China is also a large

agricultural water consumption country. In 2020,

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3602-9628

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1030-4644

China's agricultural water consumption accounts for

about 65% of the total water consumption in the

country. However, due to the obsolete irrigation

facilities and unreasonable irrigation system, the

utilization coefficient of irrigation water is only 0.55,

which are significantly lower than that of developed

countries.

Melon crops are important economic crops and

are widely cultivated worldwide, including pumpkin,

melon, watermelon, cucumber and squash. In China,

the planting area of melon crops reached 2.11×107

in 2018, with significant economic benefits

(CSY 2020). Water consumption of melon crops in

the growth stage is large, and the requirement for soil

moisture is high. Water supply directly affects the

growth and development of melon crops and the

output and quality of fruit. Therefore, appropriate

field management can bring greater economic

benefits. With the improvement of people’s quality of

life, there are also higher requirements for the quality

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5406-6238

Li, X., Zhang, H. and Li, F.

Application of Increasing Yield and Quality of Melon Crops Subjected to Regulated Deﬁcit Irrigation.

DOI: 10.5220/0011156100003444

In Proceedings of the 2nd Conference on Artiﬁcial Intelligence and Healthcare (CAIH 2021), pages 11-17

ISBN: 978-989-758-594-4

of melon and fruit. Especially in the cultivation of

melon crops in arid areas, how to use the least water

resources to ensure the maximum output and quality

is the focus of attention of scholars in China and

abroad, and a lot of achievements have been made.

This paper reviews the research status and progress of

melon crops under regulated deficit irrigation.

Figure 1: The planting area and yield per unit area of melon crops.

2 RESEARCH STATUS ON THE

MECHANISM OF RDI

Regulated deficit irrigation is an irrigation

technology developed on the basis of insufficient

irrigation. Through the control of soil moisture at a

certain growth period of crops, crops are subjected to

a certain degree of water stress, and then registered at

the subsequent growth stage. After treatment, crops

can not only improve the late drought resistance, but

also affect the redistribution of crop photosynthetic

products to different tissues and organs, and reduce

the growth redundancy of vegetative organs, to

achieve the purpose of water-saving and yield

increase. Without the influence of other factors, crops

can maintain a relatively stable growth state within

the appropriate water range. When water deficit is

regulated at a certain growth period, crops transfer

nutrients from other organs to stress organs through

self-regulation. Physiological and biochemical

changes occurred in crops during water stress.

Adjusting soil moisture and timely guidance can

provide conditions for improving water use

efficiency, increasing crop yield and quality (Ma

2005).

Under the condition of regulated deficit irrigation,

the root is the main organ to transmit water stress

information. In the theory of regulated deficit

irrigation, it is believed that the root plays a decisive

role in improving the water use efficiency in a crop

growth period. In the theory of root-shoot functional

balance, the relationship between crop roots and

crowns is both interdependent and competitive.

Under the premise of farmland microclimate stability,

the ratio of root to the crown is also in a relatively

stable state, which is caused by genetic factors of

crops themselves. When the farmland microclimate is

in a state of turbulence, the relationship between root

and crown has changed from the original

interdependence to mutual competition. Crops can

automatically transfer nutrients from other parts to

the organs most in need of nutrients through their

regulation, so that the damage to crops will be

minimized. When the root feels water deficit, the

proportion of photosynthate between root and crown

will be redistributed within the crop. More

photosynthate will be obtained in the root, which is

more favourable for the growth of the root. However,

crown growth is inhibited due to the transfer of

generalising crops, thereby reducing the leaf area and

CAIH 2021 - Conference on Artiﬁcial Intelligence and Healthcare

reducing the transpiration water consumption of

crops, thereby causing the decrease of water demand

(Cai 2004). The results showed that when regulated

deficit irrigation was carried out, the soil was in a

state of water shortage. It was difficult for crop roots

to absorb water, and the water supply of the

aboveground part was insufficient. The relative water

content and water potential of crop leave decreased,

and a substance that could control the opening and

closing of leaf stomata was produced, which affected

the physiological processes such as photosynthesis

and transpiration of crops, and ultimately affected the

water use efficiency and yield of crops (Blackman

1985, Chalmers 1984a, Chalmers 1984b).

Regulated deficit irrigation can effectively reduce

soil evaporation while reducing crop transpiration.

When the crop is in a deficit period, the soil moisture

decreases. The water content of the surface soil is

below the capillary fracture water content, and the

water in the lower soil is only transferred to the

atmosphere through the upper dry soil in the way of

water vapor diffusion, reducing water waste

(Mohamed 2013). A large number of studies have

shown that abscisic acid (ABA) is the main

transmission signal to control the stomatal aperture of

leaves. When the root water absorption of crops is

inhibited, the ABA signal in the xylem is transmitted

to the leaves, which reduce the stomatal aperture of

leaves and greatly reduce the physiological water

consumption of crops (Pang 2005).

In recent years, the research work of regulated

deficit irrigation has changed from improving crop

yield to improve crop quality. Regulated deficit

irrigation has changed the distribution of

photosynthetic products, promoted its reproductive

growth, improved the quality of fruit, and improved

the sugar content and storability of fruit. Many

studies have shown that the contents of soluble sugar

and organic acids in fruit under regulated deficit

irrigation were significantly higher than those under

normal irrigation, which improved fruit quality.

Soluble solids, K

and organic acids in the fruit

reduced the water potential of fruit cells, promoted

the transfer of cells from external water absorption

and nutrients to fruit, enhanced the ability of the fruit

to compete for nutrients and water, and promoted the

growth rate of fruit after rehydration (Chalmers 1986,

Cai 2000, Cheng 2003, Mills 1996).

3 RESEARCH PROGRESS OF

MELON CROPS SUBJECTED

TO RDI

3.1 Effects of RDI on Growth of Melon

Crops

Water deficiency at the vegetative growth stage of

plants can reduce the water content of growth tissue

and constitute cell expansion pressure, thus

significantly affecting morphological indexes such as

stalk height, stem thick, root length and foliage area.

Yuan et al. obtained through the experiment of

regulating water deficit of drip irrigation melon in the

greenhouse that in the vegetative growth period, with

the increase of water deficiency degree, the stalk

height, stem thick, root length and foliage area all

showed a decreasing trend. In the fruit development

stage, the water deficiency in the vegetative growth

period and reproductive growth period had an impact

on the growth and yield of fruit, which decreased with

the increase of water deficiency degree (Yuan 2015).

Chang, the water deficit experiment of greenhouse

cucumber showed that for morphological indexes, the

number of leaves and plant height was the best in

control. With the extension of water treatment time,

the stem diameter was always A3 and A2, and the

number of leaves and plant height was always the best

in control. Water stress inhibited the vegetative

growth of cucumber plants to a certain extent, thereby

promoting the transportation of assimilation products

to reproductive organs (Chang 2007). Wang showed

that the experiment of water deficiency regulation on

watermelon in an oasis showed that water deficiency

at different growth stages and different levels could

inhibit the growth of the main vine, leaf number, leaf

area, stem diameter, flower number and root system

of watermelon. After the end of mild water deficit,

the vine, stem, leaf, root and other parts of re-watered

watermelon could obtain compensatory growth. The

difference between re-watered watermelon and the

control treatment with sufficient water supply was

reduced or close to the control level (Wang 2007). In

the experiment of regulating deficit of muskmelon in

greenhouse, Zhang et al. was found that the growth of

stem diameter and plant height of muskmelon was

slow with the increase of water deficit, and the

reproductive growth period was delayed. The stem

diameter and plant height of T1 treatment were

always the largest, and the growth of T4 and T5

treatment was deliberate. All treatments showed slow

growth, rapid growth and slow growth (Zhang 2014).

The study on pumpkin in Hexi oasis of Yang showed

Application of Increasing Yield and Quality of Melon Crops Subjected to Regulated Deﬁcit Irrigation

that the growth rate of pumpkin vine length and stem

diameter changed rapidly in the early stage and slow

in the middle and late stage. Water deficit at the vine

extension stage would seriously influence the vine

length, stem diameter and leaf area index of crops.

Water deficit in the late growth stage inhibited the dry

matter accumulation of pumpkin, which would lead

to cropping yield reduction, but mild deficit had no

significant effect (Yang 2016).

3.2 Effects of RDI on Yield and WUE

of Melon Crops

A large number of relevant research reports have

proved that timely and appropriate deficit irrigation

will not cause crop yield reduction, but will help

increase crop output and improve WUE. In the

experiment of regulated deficit irrigation for melon in

greenhouse, Zhang et al. was found that the water

content was the same as the early growth stage, and

the increase in irrigation amount to the late growth

stage could significantly improve the yield of melon.

Compared with T2 and T5, the irrigation amount of

T1 and T4 increased by 44.5 and 29.8%, and the yield

increased by 17.1 and 23.7%. When the water content

was constant at the late growth stage, the increase in

irrigation at the initial growth stage also significantly

increased the yield of melon. Compared with T4 and

T5, the irrigation amount of T1 and T2 increased by

26.2 and 13.3%, and the yield increased by 24.0 and

30.2%. Therefore, in the case of water deficit at late

growth stage, the increase of irrigation amount at an

early growth stage is more important for the

formation of melon yield. The WUE of T2 treatment

was the highest, and its irrigation amount decreased

by 12.7% compared with T4 treatment, but the yield

increased by 5.3% and the water use efficiency

increased by 20.5% (Zhang 2014). The results of

Khalili Mikaiel et al. showed that the output of

pumpkin seeds under water deficit was the best at

grain filling stage (Khalili 2021). Taia A. Abd El-

Mageed et al. found that it was found that under 85%

ETc deficit irrigation, the yield and water use

efficiency of pumpkin were the highest in autumn,

with water consumption reduced by 36% and yield

increased by 19%. The average WUE of 85% ETc

was 11.16% and 14.19% higher than that of 70% ETc

and 100% ETc, respectively. 85% ETc is the optimal

irrigation strategy (Taia 2015). The results of Zheng

et al. showed that the yield of watermelon was the

lowest (114.13g) under moderate water deficit at

seedling and fruit enlargement (0.5ep, ep was daily

evaporation value) and mild water stress at maturity

(0.75ep). The yield was the second (120.9g) under

mild water stress at flowering and fruit setting

(0.75ep) and moderate water deficit at fruit

enlargement and maturity (0.5ep), which was 27.57

and 23.27% lower than that of normal irrigation

157.57g, respectively. The yield of watermelon

decreased under continuous water deficit at the

growth stage (Zheng 2009).

The results of many years of research by

Abdelkhalik et al. showed that compared with 100%

irrigation rate, the total yield of water stress at

different growth stages of watermelon showed a

downward trend. Underwater stress of 75% irrigation

rate, the yield per square meter and single fruit

weight, Marketable yield, and large fruit of

watermelon at the elongation stage, fruit expansion

stage and maturity stage were the lowest, which were

4.25kg∙m

-2

, 4.11kg∙fruit

-1

, 2.19kg∙m

-2

, and 0.0,

respectively. The water stress during the whole

growth period of watermelon decreased the above

indexes, indicating that the continuous water stress

was unfavourable, and the yield was formed during

the growth and development of watermelon

(Abdelkhalik 2018). Jiang et al. showed that the

average yields of the deficit treatments at the

elongation stage and the fruiting stage were

significantly decreased by 16.0% and 20.5%

compared with those of the full irrigation treatment,

respectively. However, there was no significant

difference between the yields of the deficit treatments

at the two stages (Jiang 2015). Water deficit

experiment of melon in the greenhouse by Huang et

al. showed that compared with full irrigation, fruit

yield of melon decreased by 25%, 24% and 27%

respectively and water use efficiency decreased by

19%, 11% and 18%, respectively under mild,

moderate and moderate water stress treatments in

vine extension period and fruit enlargement period,

and the effect of mild water stress treatment in fruit

enlargement period was the best (Huang 2016). Du et

al. showed that the highest yield and water use

efficiency of cucumber could be achieved by

controlling the soil moisture of 80%~90% field

capacity at flowering stage, 80%~90% field capacity

at early melon stage, 90%~100% field capacity at full

melon stage and 70%~80% field capacity at later

stage. The demand for water reached the peak of the

whole growth period, and the transpiration rate

reached 3.83mm/d (He 2003).

3.3 Effect of RDI on Quality of Melon

Crops

Water stress can promote the accumulation of

secondary metabolites in crops, thereby improving

CAIH 2021 - Conference on Artiﬁcial Intelligence and Healthcare

the quality of harvested products to a certain extent.

Hamzei J et al. set different gradients for irrigation

and nitrogen fertilizer as factors. Results showed that

under the conditions of irrigation 600mm/ha and

application 390kg/ha, the linoleic acid (33.99%), fruit

yield (4.40kg/m

), grain yield (1.53kg/m

) and

agronomic nitrogen use efficiency of pumpkin

reached the highest value (Hamzei 2016). Kirnak H.

et al. studied the effect of water deficit on the

chemical composition of pumpkin seeds. The results

showed that irrigation level had a significant effect on

the oil content of pumpkin seeds, and the oil content

of each treatment ranged from 26% to 64%. Deficit

irrigation had a significant effect on protein, fatty acid

and vitamin E content (Kirnak 2019). The results of

regulated deficit irrigation of watermelon under drip

irrigation by Liu et al. showed that watermelon under

medium frequency irrigation at seedling, high

frequency irrigation at flowering and fruit setting,

medium frequency irrigation at fruit expansion, and

low frequency irrigation at maturity had a high

content of total vitamin C, the highest content of

soluble protein, and central edge soluble solids (Liu

2014).

Omotade I.F. et al. found that the average length

and average diameter of cucumber fruit under mild

water deficit conditions were 18.33cm and 5.87cm,

respectively. The appearance quality was the best

(Omotade 2019). The results of deficit irrigation

experiment on melon in plastic shed of Wang showed

that compared with full irrigation, the photosynthetic

rate did not change significantly under mild water

deficit treatment of fruit expansion stage. The

transpiration rate and stomatal conductance increased

by 8% and 75%, respectively. The irrigation amount

per planting decreased by 6%. The water use

efficiency and pulp hardness increased by 8% and

10%, respectively. The solid-acid ratio increased, and

the yield had no significant difference (Wang 2011).

Jiang et al. studied the effect of regulated deficit

irrigation on the quality of Hetao muskmelon. The

results showed that compared with thorough

irrigation treatment, the total sugar, soluble solids and

vitamin C of the muskmelon under regulated deficit

irrigation were at a higher level. Compared with the

early growth stage, the content of total sugar and

vitamin C of the muskmelon under regulated deficit

irrigation in the late growth stage was significantly

increased, but the water content of the muskmelon

was reduced. Regulated deficit irrigation decreased

the average pulp thickness and average seed cavity

diameter of melon. In the respective deficit

treatments at the elongation stage and the fruiting

stage, titratable acid of melon gradually increased

with the increase of water deficit, and the pH value

showed a downward trend with the increase of the

deficit level (Jiang 2016).

4 PERSPECTIVES AND

PROBLEMS

RDI technology is a low-cost and high-efficiency

water-saving irrigation technology, which has

brought great benefits to the economy and ecology,

so it has a good application prospect. To make full

use of water resources, achieve the purpose of

precision irrigation. Play the role of new water-saving

agriculture in modern agriculture. However, there are

still some problems to be further studied in the deficit

irrigation technology of melon crops.

(1) Under different soil conditions in different

regions, the research on the water demand law of

melon crops is insufficient. It is necessary to study the

response mechanism of melon crops to water stress

under different conditions in-depth to obtain the most

suitable irrigation mode, deficit regulation period,

deficit regulation degree and irrigation amount,

especially in the arid areas with sufficient sunshine.

(2) Strengthening water and fertilizer coupling,

water and heat coupling research of melon crops,

forming a complete theoretical system, to achieve

high yield, high quality and economic benefits under

the premise of water and fertiliser efficient utilisation,

water and fertiliser saving effect.

(3) In the process of regulated deficit irrigation for

melon crops, soil moisture, crop physiological and

ecological indicators should be added as indicators

for quantification, which is convenient for control in

the process of regulated deficit irrigation and can

reflect the impact on crop yield and quality. In

addition, it is necessary to increase the quality

detection indexes to further illustrate the

improvement of fruit quality, such as amino acids,

proteins and β-carotene.

(4) For regions lacking irrigation water resources,

brackish water, domestic sewage or industrial

wastewater can be used to irrigate, and the

corresponding reasonable deficit irrigation theory can

be explored. Have shown that an appropriate amount

of brackish water treatment can improve fruit quality

in the late growth stage of crops (Qiao 2007, Xiao

2003), which are helpful to solve the contradiction

between supply and demand of water resources, and

the reuse of brackish water, sewage and wastewater.

(5) Combining science and technology with

cucurbit crop planting management, such as artificial

Application of Increasing Yield and Quality of Melon Crops Subjected to Regulated Deﬁcit Irrigation

intelligence technology and 3S technology, the

growth dynamics, soil moisture, environmental

conditions and climatic factors are monitored in real-

time to reduce artificial investment and improve

management efficiency.

5 CONCLUSIONS

Melon crops have advantages such as large planting

scale, short growth cycle, well economic benefits.

Thus, they can significantly increase farmers' income.

The aforementioned results demonstrated that mild

water deficit during fruit expansion could effectively

improve fruit quality and water use efficiency without

compromising yield. In summary, regulated deficit

irrigation can help to improve water use efficiency,

fruit yield and quality during the cultivation of melon

crops. Further progress has been made in the effective

allocation of water resources. In addition, by

combining with modern information technology, this

work proposed a feasible and easy-to-promote deficit

regulated irrigation technology system, aiming to

establish a green and sustainable agricultural model.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank Special Funds for the

Key Research and Developing Planning Projects of

Gansu Province (No. 18YF1NA073) and the National

Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51669001)

and the Outstanding Postgraduate Innovation Star

Projects of Gansu Provincial Education Department

(No. 2021CXZX-372) for the funding and laboratory

facilities.

REFERENCES

Abdelsattar, A., Nuria, P. S., Inmaculada, N., Alfonso, G.,

Carlos, B., & Bernardo, P. (2018). Yield response of

seedless watermelon to different drip irrigation

strategies under mediterranean conditions. Agricultural

Water Management., 212: 99-110.

Blackman, P. G., & Davies, W. J. (1985) Root to shoot

communication in maize plants of the effects of soil

drying. Journal of Experimental Botany., 1: 39-48.

Cai D. X., Shen N. Z., Cui Z. C. (2004) Research advance

of effects of regulated deficit irrigation on

physiological and ecological characteristics of crops.

Journal of Northeast Agricultural University., 02: 239-

243.

Cai H J, Kang S Z, Zhang Z H, Chai H M, Hu X T, & Wang

J. (2000) Proper Growth Stages and Deficit Degree of

Crop Regulated Deficit Irrigation. Transactions of The

Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering., 03: 24-

27.

Chalmers, D. J. , Mitchell, P. D. , & Jerie, P. H. . (1984).

The physiology of growth control of peach and pear

trees using reduced irrigation. Acta Horticulturae., 146:

143-150.

Chalmers, D. J., Burge, G., Jerie, P. H., & Mitchell, P. D.

(1986). The mechanism of regulation of 'bartlett' pear

fruit and vegetative growth by irrigation withholding

and regulated deficit irrigation. Journal of the American

Society for Horticultural Science (USA)., 111(6): 904-

907.

Chalmers, D. J., Mitchell, P. D., & Jerie, P. H. (1984) The

physiology of growth control of peach and pear trees

using reduced irrigation. Acta Horticulturae., 146: 143-

150.

Chang L. F. (2007) The Effects of RDI on the Growth,

Production and Fruit Quality of Greenhouse Cucumber.

Northwest A&F University.

Cheng F. H., Li S. H., & Meng S. Q. (2003) Study on the

Effect of Regulated Deficit Irrigation on the Vegetative

Growth, Cropping and Fruit Quality of Yali Pear

Variety. Journal of Fruit Science., 001: 22-26.

Hamzei J, Babaei M.& Khorramdel. S.. (2016) Effects of

different irrigation regimes on fruit production, oil

quality, water use efficiency and agronomic nitrogen

use efficiency of pumpkin. Būm/shināsī-i kishāvarzī.,

7(1).

He S. N., Liang Y. L., Zhang C. E. (2003) Effect of soil

moisture on water requirement rule and water use

efficiency of cucumber in greenhouse. Acta Botanica

Boreali-Occidentalia Sinica., 08:1372-1376.

Huang H. B. (2007) On China’s Water Resource Utilization

and Sustainable Development of the Economy Society.

Northwest A&F University,2007.

Jiang G. Y., Yang P. L. Ren S. M. Zheng F. J. He X. Yu H.

L. (2016) Effects of Regulated Deficit lrrigation on

Fruit Quality of Hetao Muskmelon under Drip

lrrigation. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage., 35(10):

64-68.

Jiang G. Y., Yang P. L., Ren S. M., He X, Yu H. L., Zheng

F. J. (2015) Effect of regulated deficit irrigation on soil

water-salt distribution and fruit yield of Hetao

muskmelon under drip irrigation. Journal of China

Agricultural University., 20(06): 198-204.

Khalili Mikaiel, Nejatzadeh Fatemeh. (2021) Effect of

deficit irrigation and kaolin clay on yield and yield

components of pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.). SN

Applied Sciences., 3(5).

Kirnak, H., Irik, H. A., Sipahioglu, O., & Unlukara, A.

(2019). Variations in oil, protein, fatty acids and

vitamin e contents of pumpkin seeds under deficit

irrigation. Grasas y Aceites, 70(2): 301.

Liu L. H., Mo Y. L., Yang X. Z., Li X. L., Wu M. M., Zhang

X, Ma J. X., Zhang Y, Li H. (2014) Reasonable drip

irrigation frequency improving watermelon yield and

quality under regulated deficit irrigation in plastic

CAIH 2021 - Conference on Artiﬁcial Intelligence and Healthcare

greenhouse. Transactions of the Chinese Society of

Agricultural Engineering., 30(24): 95-104.

Ma F. S., Kang S. Z., Wang M. X. (2005) Research advance

and prospect of regulated deficit irrigation on fruit

trees. Agricultural Research in the Arid Areas., 04:225-

228.

Mills, T. M., Behboudian, M. H., & Clothier, B. E. (1996)

Water relations, growth, and the composition of

‘braeburn' apple fruit under deficit irrigation. J. amer.

soc. hort, 121(2), 286-291.

Mohamed Ghrab, Rim Zitouna, Mehdi Ben Mimoun,

Mohamed Moncef Masmoudi & Netij Ben Mechlia.

(2013) Yield and water productivity of peach trees

under continuous deficit irrigation and high evaporative

demand. Biological Agriculture & Horticulture., 29(1).

National Bureau of Statistics of China. (2020) China

Statisticl Yearbook. China Statistics Press, Beijing.

Omotade I.F, Babalola I.A. (2019) Assessment of Yield and

Fruit Quality of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) under

Deficit Irrigation in the Agro-Ecological Tropical

Zone. International Journal of Engineering Science and

Application.

Pang X. M., Kang S. Z. Wang M. X., (2005) Theory and

technology research development and prospect of

regulated deficit irrigation on crops. Journal of

Northwest A & F University (Natural Science Edition).,

06:141-146.

Qiao F., Zou Z. R. (2007) Effects of brackish water

irigation on growth and distribution of salty ions in

different organs of melon under sand culture. Journal of

Northwest A & F University (Natural Science Edition).,

08: 114-120.

Taia A. Abd El-Mageed, Wael M. Semida. (2015) Effect of

deficit irrigation and growing seasons on plant water

status, fruit yield and water use efficiency of squash

under saline soil. Scientia Horticulturae., 186.

uang Y., Wang W. J, Wang L. W., Xu Q. B.., Kong Q S,

Bie Z L. (2016) Effects of regulated deficit irrigation on

photosynthetic characteristics, fruit yield and quality of

melon under plastic green house conditions. Journal of

Huazhong Agricultural University., 35(01): 31-35.

Wang F. (2007) Study of Water Use and Quality

Watermelon under Regulated Deficit Irrigation

Condition in Arid-Hungriness Oasis Area. Northwest

A&F University.

Wang W. J. (2011) Effects of Root Zone Volume and

Regulated Deficit Irrigation on Physiological

Characteristics and Fruit Quality of Melon. Huazhong

Agricultural University.

Xiao J., Wang J. P., Liu Z. Z., Li G. Y., Zhang J. G., Mao

J. H. (2003) Experimental investigation into effects of

drip irrigation with saline groundwater on water use

efficiency and quality of honeydew melons in Hetao

Region, Inner Mongolia. Transactions of the Chinese

Society of Agricultural Engineering., 02: 80-84.

Yang X. T. (2016) Effect of Different Water Supply on

Water Consumption and Yield of Pumpkin (Cucurbita

moschata Duch.) in Hexi Oasis Region. Gansu

Agricultural University.

Yuan B. Z., Zhang Q. Y., Bie Z. L. (2015) Effects of

regulated deficit irrigation on growth of drip-irrigated

muskmelon in greenhouse. Journal of Drainage and

Irrigation Machinery Engineering. , 33(07): 611-617.

Zhang Q. Y., Yuan B. Z., Bie Z. L. (2014) Effects of

Regulated Deficit lrrigation on Growth, Yield and

Water Use Efficiency of Muskmelon in Plastic

Greenhouse. Journal of Irrigation and

Drainage.,33(Z1): 90-93+111.

Zheng J, Cai H. J., Chen X M., Wang J. (2009) Effect of

Regulated Deficit Irrigation on Water Use Efficiency

and Fruit Quality of Mini-Watermelon in Greenhouse.

Journal of Nuclear Agricultural Sciences., 23(01):159-

164.

Application of Increasing Yield and Quality of Melon Crops Subjected to Regulated Deﬁcit Irrigation