News
Release
NC State University
August 21, 2002
Media Contacts:
- Dr. Todd Wehner, 919/515-5363 or todd_wehner@ncsu.edu
- Tim Lucas, News Services, 919/515-3470 or tim_lucas@ncsu.edu
Breeding Program Yields Better Watermelons for North Carolina
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Summer wouldn't be summer without the sweet taste of watermelon. Americans
eat about 4.3 billion pounds of the chin-soaking picnic staple each
year, according to USDA estimates. That's nearly 15 pounds per person.
North Carolina State University scientists are working to make sure
there are plenty of great-tasting, disease-resistant varieties to choose
from.
Dr. Todd C. Wehner, professor of horticultural science, heads the NC
State watermelon-breeding program, one of only two public watermelon-breeding
programs in the United States.
Drawing on the gene pool contained in about 15,000 packets and bulk
bags of carefully collected and stored watermelon seeds, Wehner and
his two graduate students focus on breeding melons that are resistant
to gummy stem blight and papaya ringspot, two of the most common causes
of crop failure in North Carolina.
They also work with researchers at the North Carolina Specialty Crops
Program in Kinston to breed new orange- and yellow-fleshed hybrid watermelons.
This fall, that partnership will yield fruit when the program releases
its first generation of hybrids to the market. Although the new hybrids
aren't seedless, they possess all the other traits consumers look for:
good flavor, natural sweetness, crisp texture, nice color, and a strong
rind to protect them during shipping. Plus, they're early maturing and
higher yielding - traits that farmers look for.Wehner's lab has one
of the world's most diverse collections of watermelon germplasm, representing
more than 1,200 different old cultivars, new cultivars, wild watermelon
relatives and gene mutants. Wehner has traveled as far afield as China
and Africa to collect seeds, even those that appear to have little commercial
value. "Cultivars that aren't good commercial watermelons may still
contain the genes for desirable traits," he said.
Once it's collected, the seed is stored at 38 degrees Fahrenheit and
25 percent relative humidity for up to 10 years. Old seeds are regenerated
using hand pollinations in the greenhouse or isolation blocks at experiment
stations around North Carolina.
North Carolina farmers plant about 12,000 acres of watermelon a year,
making it the state's fourth most valuable horticultural crop, behind
sweet potatoes, cucumbers and apples. North Carolina is ranked seventh
nationally in watermelon production.
In addition to university support, Wehner's research is funded by seed
companies and grower groups, including the National Watermelon Promotion
Board. The North Carolina Specialty Crops Program is a collaboration
of NC State and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer
Services. For more information about Wehner's breeding program, go online
at http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cucurbit/wmelon/wmelonmain.html.
This site maintained by NC State University News Services, (919) 515-3470
or newstips@ncsu.edu. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695,
(919) 515-2011
