The objective of this work was to study the effect of water and nitrogen on the physical and economic yield of melon. The experiment was carried out in Pentecoste, Ceará State, Brazil, from September to December 2002, in a completely randomized experimental design, with blocks in split-plots. The main treatments were four water depths (W1= 232.7; W2= 334.7; W3= 422.1; W4= 567.8 mm) with four levels of nitrogen (N0= 0; N1= 75; N2= 150; N3= 300 kg ha-1). Ten statistic models were evaluated and the one that best adjusted to the experiment data was the quadratic polynomial model, without intercept and interaction among water (W) and nitrogen (N) factors as shown in the production function equation Y= 70,77509 W+34,16737 N0,05781 W²0,07612 N². Water presented a significant effect on productivity, while nitrogen was just significant at the level of 6.43%. The interaction among the factors was not significant. The highest productivity estimated with the function was 25,496.1 kg ha-1. The best economic result was R$3,353.24 ha-1, obtained with 609.2 mm of water and 186.2 kg ha-1 of nitrogen, providing a yield of 25,384.3 kg ha-1. The economic efficiency of water use was estimated in 41.66 kg ha-1 mm-1, with the application of 186.2 kg ha-1 of nitrogen.
Cucumis melo L.; drip irrigation; production function
