specialty cantaloupe variety performance...2/19/2018 4 purdue university is an equal access/equal...

2/19/2018

1

Purdue University is an equal access/equal opportunity institution. 1

Specialty Cantaloupe Variety Performance

Petrus Langenhoven, Ph.D.Horticulture and Hydroponics Crops Specialist

February 13, 2018

Purdue University is an equal access/equal opportunity institution.

Outline of Presentation

2

• Background

• Materials and Methods

• Results

• Conclusion

2/19/2018

2


Background


Background

4

• Indiana is a very important player in the domestic melon market

• Total acreage planted in Indiana peaked in 1997:

• 3,600 acres

• Total production was 455,000 cwt with an average income of $16.00 per cwt

• Total farm value of production was $7,280,000 ($2,022 per acre)

• Yield has increased since 1997 from 130 cwt per acre to 230 cwt per acre in 2014

• The Indiana melon growers have lost a significant share of the melon market since the 2011 and 2012 food borne illness outbreak

2/19/2018

3


YearAcres Planted

Yield(cwt per acre)

Value of Production

Value of Production per Acre

Production (cwt)

Value per cwt

1997 3,600 130 $7,280,000 $2,022 455,000 $16.00

2011 2,700 220 $12,698,000 $4,703 572,000 $22.20

2012 2,500 220 $10,487,000 $4,195 462,000 $22.70

2013 2,100 230 $11,500,000 $5,476 460,000 $25.00

2014 1,900 220 $5,980,000 $3,147 396,000 $15.10

2015 1,800 160 $7,616,000 $4,231 272,000 $28.00

2016 1,800 185 $7,245,000 $4,255 315,000 $23.00

Quick Facts about Indiana Cantaloupe

Average price per melon: $0.70 ‐ $1.10http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1478

https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Indiana/Publications/Current_News_Release/2016/nr1609in.pdf

https://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/


Quick Facts about Indiana Cantaloupe

6

• Mainly planted in southwest Indiana

• Transplant Production: March/April

• Planting Season: April – June

• Harvest Season: June – Sept.

• Plant Population (2.5 ft. x 6 ft.): 2,904 plants per acre

• U.S. ranking in 2016: 4th in terms of production

2/19/2018

4


Goals and Objective

7

• Develop solutions to reverse the decrease in acreage, market share and associated risk of food borne illness

• Long term goal is to increase the planted acreage, farm productivity and profit margins for Indiana melon growers

• In the short term we can address the demand for high quality smaller fruit (e.g. personalized melons), which would entail the continuous evaluation of a market driven selection of melon types that are currently not being grown in Indiana

• Objective of this study was (1) to evaluate the productivity and quality of a selection of specialty Cantaloupe and Charentais melon varieties in the field, (2) and to determine production economics


Materials and Methods

2/19/2018

5


Material and Methods

9

• Specialty melons were produced using conventional production techniques

• Eight varieties were tested at the Throckmorton/Meigs PAC, Lafayette, IN

• Sow date: 5/23/2017

• Germination date: 5/27/2017

• Plant date: 6/12/2017

• Raised beds, mulch, drip tape

• Between‐row spacing: 7 feet 8 inches on center of beds

• In‐row spacing: 2.5 feet

• Plant density: 19.2 sq. ft. per plant or 2,273 plants per acre

• 10 plants per variety per replicate, 5 replicates, randomized block design

• Planting rows were orientated east‐west


Material and Methods

10

• Irrigation was applied as needed

• Heavy rain experienced in July

• Pesticides were applied to control cucumber beetles and powdery mildew

• Melons were harvested once per week

• At harvest fruit count and weight per plot was recorded. A sub‐sample of three melons per plot were used to measure width and length of the fruit

• Internally, seed cavity length and width, and Brix (%SS) measurements were recorded

• First harvest date: 8/7/2017 (56 DAT)

• Last harvest date: 8/28/2017 (77 DAT)

2/19/2018

6


Specialty Cantaloupe and Charentais Varieties Tested

11

# Variety Name TypeDays to

MaturityShape

Fruit size

(kg)Flesh color Disease Package

1 Lilliput Cantaloupe 80 Round 0.5‐0.9 Orange F2, PM

2 Inspire Cantaloupe 65 Semi round 0.5‐0.9 Bright orange

3 Sugar Cube Cantaloupe 80 Round 0.9 Deep orange PM FW, ZYMV, PRSV, WMV

4 French Orange Charentais 75 Round to oval 1.1 Deep orange F3, PM

5 Tasty Bites Ananas x Charentais 80 Round to oval 0.8‐1.1 Light orange AB, F3, PM

6 Escorial French Charentais 72 Round to oval 0.9 Dark orange F2, PM

7 Savor French Charentais 78 Round to oval 0.9 Dark orange F3, PM

8 Artemis French Charentais 78 Round 0.9‐1.1 Deep orange F: 0, 2, PM:1, 2, 5


Sow date: 5/23/2017

2/19/2018

7


6/14/2017 7/28/2017


Soil Analysis

Sample ID

Lab #Organic Matter

Bray‐1 Equiv

K Mg Ca NaSoilpH

Buffer pH

CEC % K % Mg % Ca % H

% ppm‐P ppm ppm ppm ppm meq/100g

17 11334 4.3 76 213 355 2200 6.4 6.8 16.9 3.2 17.5 65.1 14.2

18 11335 3.5 36 133 375 2200 6.5 6.9 15.7 2.2 19.9 70.2 7.7

AVG 3.9 56 173 365 2200 6.45 6.85 16.3 2.7 18.7 67.7 11.0

P2O5 K2O

lb/acre 258 415.2

2/19/2018

8


Plant Nutrition

15

• Pre‐plant fertilizer (lbs/acre)

• Applied a custom mix 9‐22‐31 prior to bed making

• Additional N applied when beds are made and plastic is laid using Urea

• 130 N, 150 P2O5, and 200 K2O

• No starter fertilizer was used

• No additional applications were done after transplanting


Results and Discussion

2/19/2018

9


Lilliput Sugar CubesInspire French Orange

Tasty Bites ArtemisSavorEscorial


Plant Disease Challenges

18

• Variety performance was impacted by disease and insect pressure

• The main diseases were bacterial wilt (transferred by cucumber beetles) and powdery mildew

• Bacterial wilt affected about 27% of all the plants in this study

… Some varieties had plant casualties of up to 50% (French Orange, Escorial) of the original population. Least affected by bacterial wilt was Lilliput (14%)

… Most varieties had plant casualties of between 19% and 22%

• Powdery mildew affected most varieties accept Lilliput and Sugar Cubes

… Savor was the most affected by powdery mildew and as a result produced a much lower yield

… A low incidence of powdery mildew was observed on all other varieties (3% to 10%)

2/19/2018

10


Bacterial W

ilt

Escorial (7/28/2017)Escorial (8/8/2017)French Orange (8/14/2017)


Powdery M

ildew

Savor (8/24/2017)Savor (7/28/2017)

2/19/2018

11


Fruit Weight and Yield

VarietyDays to Maturity

(Seed Company)

Days to

Maturity

(Trial)

# Fruit/plantFruit Size (kg)(Seed Company)

Fruit Size

(kg)

(Trial)

Yield/plant

(kg)# Fruit/Acre

Yield

(kg/acre)

Lilliput 80 79 5.1 0.5‐0.9 1.0 5.3 14,668 15,490

Inspire 65 76 4.9 0.5‐0.9 1.4 7.1 14,288 19,518

Sugar Cubes 80 76 6.3 0.9 1.0 6.8 18,307 19,661

French Orange 75 79 4.0 1.1 1.2 4.7 11,580 13,659

Tasty Bites 80 76 5.5 0.8‐1.1 1.3 7.1 16,084 20,604

Escorial 72 76 3.8 0.9 1.5 5.6 11,098 16,177

Savor 78 85 1.6 0.9 1.2 1.9 4,680 5,655

Artemis 78 76 4.3 0.9‐1.1 1.2 5.4 12,581 15,568

Ideal: 0.9 to 1.8 kg


Fruit Characteristics, External

22

Cultivar Name

1. Lilliput

2. Inspire

3. Sugar Cubes

4. French Orange

5. Tasty Bites

6. Escorial

7. Savor

8. Artemis

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8

2/19/2018

12


Fruit Characteristics, Internal

23

Inspire

1 2

Lilliput



24

Sugar Cubes

43

French Orange

2/19/2018

13


Tasty Bites

5 6


Escorial


Savor

7 8


Artemis

2/19/2018

14


Fruit Quality at Harvest

Variety Brix (%SS)Fruit Seed Cavity

Length (mm) Width (mm) Length (mm) Width (mm)

Lilliput 13.3 125 123 74 57

Inspire 10.6 148 136 98 60

Sugar Cubes 13.3 128 122 78 52

French Orange 13.4 129 127 83 57

Tasty Bites 12.4 147 130 92 60

Escorial 14.1 141 142 89 63

Savor 12.6 130 135 83 61

Artemis 13.9 135 132 88 59

Class 1, >11Class 2, 9


Conclusions

2/19/2018

15


Conclusions: Fruit Size, Yield

29

• Lilliput, Inspire, Sugar Cubes and Tasty Bites produced the highest number of fruit per acre

• However, Inspire, Sugar Cubes, Tasty Bites and Escorial produced the highest yield

• All varieties met the fruit size criteria set out at the onset of the study.

• Lilliput and Sugar Cubes produced the smallest perfectly round fruit followed by French Orange, Savor and Artemis

• Lilliput and Sugar Cubes also had the smallest seed cavity


Conclusions: Sweetness, Defects

30

• Escorial produced fruit with the highest total soluble solids content (14.2%) followed by Artemis (13.9%), French Orange (13.4%), Sugar Cubes and Lilliput (13.3%). Most varieties produced fruit with a total soluble solids content higher than 12%, accept Inspire (10.6%)

• Fruit of French Orange, Escorial, Savor and Artemis tend to crack at the blossom end. However, the worst effected variety was Savor (soft and thin‐skinned variety)

• Escorial and Artemis produced very sweet fruit, but had issues with fruit cracking

• Adjusting production practices might help to minimize fruit cracking in these two varieties

• Varieties with none to very little defects and production issues include Lilliput and Sugar Cubes.

• From initial results, Lilliput, Sugar Cubes, Escorial, and Artemis seem to have the most potential

2/19/2018

16


Acknowledgements

31

• Co‐PI’s

… Ariana Torres

… Amanda Deering

… Wenjing Guan

… Dan Egel

• Purdue AgSEED grant

• Mary S. Rice grant

• Throckmorton PAC/Meigs staff

… Nate Linder

… Tristand Tucker

… Jay Young

• Summer Interns

… Maddie Turkupolis

… Pedro Martin


THANK YOU Questions?

Contact details:

Dr. Petrus Langenhoven

Horticulture and Hydroponics Crop Specialist

Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture

Purdue University

Tel. no. 765-496-7955

Email: [email protected]

32

specialty cantaloupe variety performance...2/19/2018 4 purdue university is an equal access/equal...

Documents