RESEARCH ON THE USE OF EXTRA-EARLY CULTIVARS FOR INCREASING ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY IN WATERMELON GROWING IN THE SOUTHERN ROMANIA

The paper aimed to study the influence of two cultivars: Crisby and Karistan, with a different maturation length, upon economic efficiency in watermelon growing in an experiment running on sandy soils at SC Casa Pepenilor Verzi SRLDabuleni, Dolj County, Romania in the year 2011.The experience was organized on 1.25 ha divided into 2 plots: V1-cultivated with Crisby F1 cultivar, an extra-early type and V2-cultivated with Karistan cultivar, a tardy type. The main economic indicators followed in the experiment have been the following ones: watermelon yield, production cost, income, profit, profit rate and gross margin. Crisby cultivar produced 30 t fruit per ha, starting from the 1st part of June when the selling price was Lei 1.2/kg and assured Lei 22,611 profit/ha. Karistan cultivar generated 70 t fruit per surface unit beginning from the 2nd part of July when the selling price was Lei 0.3/kg and produced Lei 6,051 profit per ha. As a conclusion, the use of an extra-early cultivar could assure a more efficient watermelon growing because fruit could be delivered earlier in the market covering in a better way consumer’s demand and increasing producers’ income and profit