ISSN 2167-0447
International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 3 (2), pp. 428-434, February, 2013. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
The effects of manure application and branch management methods on some agroecological aspects of summer squash (Cucurbitapepo L.) in a low input cropping system
Mohsen Jahan, Alireza Koocheki, Reza Ghorbani*, Mehdi Nassiri and Mohammad. D. Salari
Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Division of Agroecology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, P. O. Box: 91775-1163, Mashhad, Iran.
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Fax: +98 511 878 7430.
Received 06 July, 2012; Accepted 09 February, 2013
Abstract
Squash (Cucurbitapepo L.) is an important oil seed and medicinal plant which produces unsaturated fatty acids, cosmetic medicine and health products. In order to study the effects of different cattle manure levels and branch management methods on organic production of Summer squash, two field experiments were conducted during years 2005 and 2006. Treatments consisted of four manure levels (10, 15, 20, 25 t ha-1) and two branch management methods (with and without wood pole), which were allocated to main plots and subplots, respectively. Results showed that branch management method without wood pole was more efficient than with wood pole. Increasing manure level had significant effect on fruit and seed yields; however, these traits were not significantly affected by manure levels residual effect at the second year. There were no differences in the number of seeds per plant due to manure levels in either year. Seed oil content slightly increased when manure level increased from 10 to 25 t ha-1. This researchindicated that application of 20 t ha-1 cattle manure with no-chemical fertilizer is an appropriate method for organic production of Summer squash which produce greater yield with high seed oil contents.
Key words: Pumpkin, Schneider squash, manure, seed oil, yield, organic production.