PHOTOSYNTHESIS ACTIVITIES OF MELON CULTIVARS UNDER FLOODING ENVIRONMENT

Flooding is such a stress factor leading to reduction in both the yield and quality of crops. One practical solution lowering yield and quality performances of crops in areas with flooding risks is to practice of tolerant plant cultivars. The major purpose of the present work was to identify the most suitable cultivars within 11 different Kırkağaç melon cultivars in accordance of photosynthesis activities. In such pot experiment, all treatments were irrigated with same amount of water during stages of seed sowing-initial of stress applications, and 10-day stress was applied to treatments having the flooding stress in time with plants having four-five leaves. In plants, harvested just after stress application, leaf temperature, stomata conductivity, quantum yield of photosynthesis, and photochemical yield of photosystem II were examined. In results, flooding stress had no significant effects on leaf temperature and stomata conductance but resulted important reductions in quantum yield of photosynthesis, and photochemical yield of photosystem II. There were observed changes among cultivars, and Sürmeli F1 (V-5), Kırkağaç local cultivar (V-10) and Kyrgyzstan local cultivar (V-11) performed maximum photosynthesis activity.