• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.253-259
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• 2015

BACKGROUND: During the off-season, the cultivation of Chinese cabbage and water dropwort is often used to desalinize plastic film house soils. The objective of this study was to verify the effect of double-cropping systems on the salt removal in oriental melon cultivated plastic film house soils.METHODS AND RESULTS: Electrical conductivity (EC) and soluble salt contents were measured in soils collected from plastic film houses of oriental melon cultivation before and after the off-season crop cultivation. Also the same measurements were performed in the next oriental melon season to estimate the desalinization effect of double-cropping systems. During the cultivation of Chinese cabbage under open-field condition, EC_eof surface soil was reduced from 6.0 to 0.8 dS/m. Double-cropping of water dropwort in flooded soil was also efficient in removing the salts accumulated during oriental melon cultivation. In the house soils where salts were removed during the off-season crop cultivation, soil EC_ewas maintained below 3 dS/m during the next oriental melon cultivation season.CONCLUSION: The off-season cropping under open-field or flooded condition was effective in desalinization of plastic film house soils. Since the salt removal effect is not expected to last for several years, the double-cropping system should be introduced every season to maintain soil EC below the critical level.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2014

BACKGROUND: Crop rotation is often used as a solution to eradicate nematodes in soils used in plastic film houses for long-term cultivation of oriental melon. However, it is not clear if the double-cropping is effective in reducing nematode populations in soils. METHODS AND RESULTS: Nematode population in plastic film house soil was measured during oriental melon cultivation from April to July in short term crop rotation systems of oriental melon. Double-cropping of chinese cabbage in open-field for 3-4 months following oriental melon in plastic film houses could not prevent the build-up of high population density of nematodes. However, double-cropping of dropwort in flooded soil for 3-4 months following oriental melon in plastic film houses could effectively reduce the nematode population during the successive year of oriental melon cultivation. The reduced nematode population in soils of oriental melon-dropwort double-cropping system was continued until the mid season of progressive year oriental melon cultivation. Application of nematicide to soil before growing oriental melon in the oriental melon-dropwort double-cropping was very effective in preventing the build-up of high population density of nematode in plastic film house soils. CONCLUSION: Short-term introduction of crop rotation was not effective in suppression of high population density of nematodes in plastic film house soils of long-term year-to-year production of oriental melon. For securing the soil productivity and sustainability of plastic film house, various physical, chemical, and agronomic practices should be properly combined together.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.167-178
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• 1998

An Aero-NFT nutriculture system using microcomputer for cultivation of greenhouse melon was developed and the performance of the system was evaluated through experiments. The system could control temperature, EC and pH of the nutrient solution within the error ranges of $\pm$ 0.2$^{\circ}C$, $\pm$ 0.2 mS/cm, $\pm$ 0.1 pH, respectively. The results of cultivation experiment showed that temperature, EC and pH of the nutrient solution were generally controlled within the setting ranges during cultivation period. The growth results were good until pinching, but the fruit quality of melons was not high except sweetness and shape. To optimize performance of the system, more techlical information for nutriculture of greenhouse melon was needed.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.186-195
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• 2008

In this paper, a prototype tele-operative system with a mobile base was developed in order to automate cultivation of house melon. A man-machine interactive hybrid decision-making system via tele-operative task interface was proposed to overcome limitations of computer image recognition. Identifying house melon including position data from the field image was critical to automate cultivation. And it was not simple especially when melon is covered partly by leaves and stems. The developed system was composed of 5 major modules: (a) main remote monitoring and task control module, (b) wireless remote image acquisition and data transmission module, (c) three-wheel mobile base mounted with a 4 dof articulated type robot manipulator (d) exchangeable modular type end tools, and (e) melon storage module. The system was operated through the graphic user interface using touch screen monitor and wireless data communication among operator, computer, and machine. Once task was selected from the task control and monitoring module, the analog signal of the color image of the field was captured and transmitted to the host computer using R.F. module by wireless. A sequence of algorithms to identify location and size of a melon was performed based on the local image processing. Laboratory experiment showed the developed prototype system showed the practical feasibility of automating various cultivating tasks of house melon.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.217-231
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• 2021

This study was conducted to identify the regional specialization that occurred during industrialization of agriculture. It examined patterns in oriental melons as one of the produce leading the development of the domestic protected horticulture sector. Oriental melons have been cultivated indoors for a long time. Seongju-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do is specializing in oriental melon cultivation through increasingly intensive production and spatial concentration and is now the largest oriental melon production area in South Korea. This paper first discusses the production intensification and spatial concentration of oriental melon cultivation at the national level and then examines the specialization of oriental melon cultivation in Seongju-gun in terms of land use, cultivation facilities and related technologies, and the division of labor. This examination was based on relevant statistics and in-depth interviews with main actors from the area.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.196-203
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• 2008

Hybrid robust image processing algorithm to extract visual features of melon during the cultivation was developed based on a wireless tele-operative interface. Features of a melon such as size and shape including position were crucial to successful task automation and future development of cultivation data base. An algorithm was developed based on the concept of hybrid decision-making which shares a task between the computer and the operator utilizing man-computer interactive interface. A hybrid decision-making system was composed of three modules such as wireless image transmission, task specification and identification, and man-computer interface modules. Computing burden and the instability of the image processing results caused by the variation of illumination and the complexity of the environment caused by the irregular stem and shapes of leaves and shades were overcome using the proposed algorithm. With utilizing operator's teaching via LCD touch screen of the display monitor, the complexity and instability of the melon identification process has been avoided. Hough transform was modified for the image obtained from the locally specified window to extract the geometric shape and position of the melon. It took less than 200 milliseconds processing time.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.45-54
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• 2014

The main purpose of this study is to provide the back-from-city farmers with the information about the melon cultivation technology by surveying 268 farm houses in the major melon producing districts such as Seongju and Chilgok. For the purpose, this study classifies the essential technologies that the melon experts think as most important into 6 categories: size of plastic film house, covering film, varieties of oriental melon, lagging cover, ventilation method and ways to reduce repeated-cultivation damage. The result of the study shows that the back-from-city farmers should consider the following items when they choose to cultivate oriental melons. For the size of plastic film house, the ventilation method and the covering film of plastic film house, it is better to choose the latest technology. Even though it may require larger initial investment, the latest technology can increase the production and lower the cost. In case of variety, it is better to choose popular or the most widely grown ones rather than the new ones. The lagging cover should be selected in consideration of climate conditions such as average temperature and humidity, transplant time and harvest time of the farming region.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.614-622
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• 2014

Melons (Cucumis melo L.) are generally grafted onto Cucurbita rootstocks to manage soilborne pathogens such as Monosporascus root rot and v ine decline (MRR/VD) and Fusarium wilt. However, g rafting onto Cucurbita rootstocks reportedly results in the reduction of fruit quality. In this study, the resistance to MRR/VD, yield, and fruit quality of melons grafted onto melon rootstocks were evaluated under greenhouse conditions. Eight melon rootstocks (R1 to R8) were used and the inodorus melon 'Homerunstar' was used as scion. Melon rootstocks R1 to R6 were selected based on resistance to MRR/VD under greenhouse conditions. Non-grafted 'Homerunstar' and plants grafted onto squash interspecific hybrid 'Shintozwa' rootstock (Cucurbita maxima D. ${\times}$ C. moschata D.) served as controls. Grafted melons were cultivated in the greenhouse infested with Monosporascus cannonballus during two growing seasons (summer and autumn). The responses to MRR/VD, yield, and fruit quality differed depending on the rootstocks and growing season. The melons grafted onto 'Shintozwa' exhibited less severe disease symptoms and higher survival rates than non-grafted melons in both seasons. While the melon rootstocks in the summer cultivation did not increase the survival rate compared to non-grafted melons, the melon rootstocks R1 and R2 in the autumn cultivation led to higher survival rates. The melon rootstocks resistant to MRR/VD increased the percentage of marketable fruits and marketable yields. Grafting onto the melon rootstocks caused little or no reduction of fruit quality such as low calcium content, fruit softening, and vitrescence, especially in lower-temperature autumn season. Accordingly, these results suggest that grafting onto the melon rootstocks may increase the tolerance to MRR/VD and the marketable yield without a reduction of fruit quality.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.51-58
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• 2023

In this study, an empirical experiment was conducted to assess the feasibility of replacing groundwater with rainwater in melon cultivation using a smart rainwater harvesting system. The rainwater harvesting efficiency was calculated under three different melon cultivation scenarios. After cultivation, the quality of the fruits grown with rainwater and groundwater was compared by examining the weight, degree of sweetness, and flesh hardness of the products. The results revealed that the water quality of the smart rainwater harvesting device was suitable for melon cultivation to provide better hardness and chloride levels than groundwater. It was also estimated that about 40% of the total water demand for full growth of the melon could be supplied by rainwater. The fruit weight and sweetness were equivalent or slightly better for the melons cultivated with rainwater than those cultivated with groundwater. In particular, the flesh hardness was significantly improved by rainwater cultivation. These results collectively suggest that rainwater can be used as a substitute for groundwater to preserve groundwater resources without compromizing the produced fruit quality.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.156-163
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• 2017

A greenhouse experiment was conducted for evaluation of ecological effects of transgenic melon plants in the rhizospheric soil in terms of soil properties, enzyme activities and microbial communities. Organic matter content of soil under transgenic melon plants was significantly higher than that of soil with non-transgenic melon plants. Significant variations were observed in organic matter, total P and K in soil cultivation with transgenic melon plants. There were also significant variations in the total numbers of colony forming units of fungi, actinomycetes and bacteria between soils treated with transgenic and non-transgenic melon plants. Transgenic and non-transgenic melon significantly enhanced several enzymes activities including urease, acid phosphatase, alkalin phosphatase, arysulphtase, ${\beta}$ glucosidase, dehydrogenase, protease and catalase. Soil polyphenoloxidase activity of $T_1$ transgenic melon was lower than that of $T_0$ transgenic melon and a non-melon plant during the same period. The first generation transgenic melon plants ($T_0$) showed significantly greater (p<0.05) effect on the activitiy of arylsulfatase, which increased from $2.540{\times}10^6CFU\;g^{-1}$ (control) to $19.860{\times}10^6CFU\;g^{-1}$ ($T_0$). These results clearly indicated that transgenic melon might change microbial communities, enzyme activities and soil chemical properties.