Climate Change’s Impact on Sandy Soils and on the Grafted Watermelons Adaptation

Abstract

Starting from the fact that the principles of agro-ecology become fundamental principles for the development of a green economy, especially in the context of current climate change, the effective capitalization of the ecological conditions of an agricultural area is one of the main objectives of agricultural science and practice. Identifying and formulating adaptive technological solutions can guide any producer to capitalize different climate and soil conditions. The sandy soils in Southern Oltenia offer less favourable ecological conditions, and the cultivation of watermelons is now profitable enough for such conditions. Growers are, however, interested in getting the most productive yields, early and profitable, even under the conditions of climate change. The current paper quantifies the grafting of watermelons in the conditions of the sandy soils of Dăbuleni, with poor soil supply, with meteorological drought phenomena and agricultural drought risk, in terms of quality and quantity of production under the climatic conditions in 2015-2017. The results, correlated with the climatic conditions, recommend the cultivation of grafted watermelons, offering the producers in the area a niche of ecological adaptation, ensuring the resistance of plants to abiotic, thermo-hydric stress factors, and improving the resistance to low temperatures, heat and drought.