"The whole world in this business claims to have the best varieties to grow with the best tasting qualities for the consumer, but it's one thing to say it and another to show it," said Bayer Vegetable Seeds crop sales manager for melons, Francisco Solera. 

These comments were made at a recent Business Event for Experts in melons and watermelons held by Bayer subsidiary and brand Nunhems in Cartagena, Spain earlier this month. 

During the event, participants were shown a range of measures used to guarantee quality in melons, as well as the latest developments in variety breeding.

In a release, the company said Bayer had demonstrated great commercial value with a picking indicator used in the open field production of melon types such as Galia, Cantaloupe and Charentais. 

Solera said the visual indicator guaranteed harvests took place at an optimal time for flavor and shelf life, even if pickers were unspecialized.

"Picking quality [fruit] before was something within reach for just a few, but we have revolutionized the way we harvest and now all growers can harvest with the optimal ripening point at their fingertips," he said.

But how does the indicator work? The executive said in Galia there was a yellow tone that unmistakably showed the right time for harvesting, while in Cantaloupes and Charentais there were physical changes in the peduncle in addition to color.

While the indicator may sound simple, Solera claimed the results were significant, resulting in a notable percentage rise in fruit that was fit for commercialization. 

This often means the difference between customer satisfaction and a commercial failure at the point of sale, he added.

"We are contributing in an active way to customer loyalty in melons, avoiding commercial rejections and creating consumption habits for European customers," Solera said.

The benefits of breeding programs

While taste is very important in breeding melons, the release said this year Nunhems had presented new resistance in melons to insects such as white fly, the tomato leafminer and aphids, among others.

The Business Event for Experts was also the chosen event for the launch of a new mini-watermelon with microseeds targeting the market for monoculture and organics. 

In the release, the company said the fruit had high productivity and a more appropriate size for markets were fruit was sold in units rather than by weight. 

The mini watermelons weigh between 1.8-3kg (3.9-6.6lbs) each and are aimed at attending to growing demand for organic watermelons across Europe, especially in Scandinavia. 

The company also presented new seedless watermelon lines that had been consolidating in the marketplace thanks to their excellent internal quality, including Sun Gem F1 for production under plastic in the region of Almería, and Moon Gem F1 for open air production in Murcia.

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