Abstract

Since freshwater water resources are depleting, reclaimed treated water (RW) is used as an alternative source for irrigation. Two experiments were conducted under field conditions to evaluate the effects of using reclaimed water on pollen productivity, insect flower visitation, flower number, and fruit yield and quality of species of Cucurbitaceae. Transplants of pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima), squash (C. pepo), bottle gourd (C. lagenaria), and watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) were planted in 2 growing seasons on 15 March and 15 May 2018 and irrigated with RW or freshwater (FW). The RW improved pollen viability, insect flower visitation rates, female flower number, fruit weight, and fruit sucrose content by 4.2, 45.3, 45.9, 28.0 and 399.3%, respectively, compared with FW. Flowers of pumpkin, squash, and watermelon plants attracted more insect visitation rates than those of bottle-gourd. Watermelon plants had the lowest pollen weight, pollen viability, and fruit number. Bottle gourd had the highest reduction in fruit weight (26.9%) when irrigated with FW; while squash had the lowest reduction (13.5%) in fruit weight. The RW appears to be a suitable alternative water source for the irrigation of Cucurbitaceae