Evaluación del rendimiento y comportamiento de tres variedades de sandía (Citrullus lanatus) en la comunidad Las Casitas, Santa Rosa, El Oro

Abstract

This research allowed us to evaluate the behavior and performance of three varieties of watermelon ( Citrullus lanatus ) in organic production , determining the most promising variety to ensure the production of healthy food , without altering the ecosystem. In the province of El Oro, Santa Rosa there is Las Casitas community , which has artisanal fisheries as main activity, to which few householders are engaged , since most of the population are emigrants. it has been trying to find a different but productive activity to encourage the emigrants to return , raising the production of organic watermelon. The investigation was carried out on a plot of 500m ², using an experimental design with ramdom blocks with 3 treatments and 5 replicates , evaluating 36 plants in each repetition. The analyzed variables were quantitative and qualitative of the crop and the fruit. The varieties studied were Charleston Gray, Crimsoon Sweet and Sugar Baby. The most promising variety proved to be Crimsoon Sweet with a production of 26.5 tonnes per hectare , ranking above the average national production. Chromatographic analysis of soil and qualitative differences between organic versus conventional fruit and crops were obtained