EFFECT OF DIFFERENT TILLAGE METHODS ON SOIL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND CROP YIELD OF WATERMELON (Citrullus Vulgaris)

A two year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of different tillage methods on soil physical properties and crop yield of watermelon. Tillage treatments in the study were moldboard plow + two passes of disk harrow as conventional tillage (CT), two passes of disk harrow as reduced tillage (RT), one pass of disk harrow as minimum tillage (MT) and no-tillage (NT) as direct drilling method. The statistical results of the study indicated that tillage method significantly (P≤0.05) affected crop yield, fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter and total soluble solids, but there was no significant differences in other components such as number of plants per hectare, number of fruits per plant, root length and root dry matter. The maximum value of crop yield (21.11 t ha-1), number of plants per hectare (2730), fruit weight (5.15kg), fruit diameter (20.3cm), root length (42.0cm) and root dry matter (54.1%) was observed in case of CT treatment, while maximum value of number of fruits per plant (1.56), fruit length (23.0cm) and total soluble solids (7.8%) was noted in case of RT treatment. On the other hand, the minimum value of crop yield (12.26 t ha-1), number of plants per hectare (2590), number of fruits per plant (1.40), fruit weight (3.38kg), fruit length (20.7cm), fruit diameter (17.9cm), root length (37.1cm) and root dry matter (46.5%) was obtained in case of NT treatment, while the minimum value of total soluble solids (6.6%) was noted in case of MT treatment. The statistical results of the study also indicated that tillage method