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2006 Report
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26th ANNUAL MEETING
Orlando, Florida
February 5, 2006

Benny D. Bruton, Chairman
US Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service
Lane, Oklahoma 74555

[E-mail] bbruton-usda@lane-ag.org
[Web Page] http://www.lane-ag.org/H2oMelon/watermelon.htm

The Annual Meeting of the Watermelon Research & Development Working Group (WRDWG) was Sunday, February 5, 2006 in Orlando, Florida. The meeting was held (8:00 AM - 5:00 PM) in the meeting room Palms Ballroom Salon A (Wyndham Orlando Resort) in conjunction with The Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (S.A.A.S.) and the Southern Region American Society for Horticultural Sciences (SR: ASHS). Please let Dr. Paul Smeal (Secretary-Treasurer) know that we appreciate the support of SR:ASHS. We expect to have an excellent program this year. As per the request of the members, we will meet for a full again day this year.

Minutes (contributed by Steve King)

Benny Bruton called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone and was followed by seed company reports. Brenda Lanini (Harris Moran), Fred McCuistion (Seminis, Inc), Gary Elmstrom (Sunseeds), Jamey Adams (Southwestern Vegetable Seed), Xingping Zhang (Syngenta Seeds), and Don Dobbs (Willhite Seed) gave updates and talked about new releases for their respective companies. These updates and discussions were followed by the following research topics: Don Dobbs, Willhite Seed, talked about Willhite's progress in wilt tolerance; Jonathan Schultheis, North Carolina State University talked about the upcoming Cucurbitaceae 2006 conference; Don Maynard, University of Florida talked about causes of occasional seediness in triploid watermelon; PJ Dittmar, DW Monks and JR Monks, North Carolina State University, talked about the effects of post-application halosufuron-methyl at various percents of coverage on watermelon.

The next topic was statewide watermelon trial reports for 2005, and included a review of Texas statewide watermelon trials by Juan Anciso, Larry Stein, Steve King and Bob Whitney of Texas A&M University; the 2005 Delaware seedless watermelon variety trial results was presented by Emmalea Ernest, Tracy Wootten and Ed Kee from the University of Delaware; an overview of the watermelon variety trials in Georgia was presented by George Boyhan from the University of Georgia; and the Seedless and mini-watermelon variety trials data for South Carolina was presented by Gilbert Miller of Clemson University.

Steven Fore, Director of Research for the National Watermelon Promotion Board, Orlando, FL presented the US watermelon consumer and market trends, which was followed by Bob Morrissey, Executive Director, National Watermelon Association, Plant City, FL, who presented the new outlook at the National Watermelon Association.

Agenda

WELCOME: Benny Bruton, Chairman, E-mail: bbruton-usda@lane-ag.org

I. 8:00 AM WEB PAGE

II. SEED COMPANY RELEASES AND UPDATES: Handouts are encouraged!!

III. STATEWIDE WATERMELON TRIALS FOR 2005: Handouts Please

IV. RESEARCH REPORTS:

V. LUNCH BREAK: 12:00 Noon to 1:00 PM

VI. MISCELLANEOUS REPORTS:

VII. RESEARCH REPORTS:

VIII. SEED SOURCE FOR FUSARIUM WILT DIFFERENTIALS

IX. Other Business

Dear Watermelon Research & Development Working Group Members:

As a part of the continuing effort to ensure the availability of all accessions in the Citrullus germplasm collection, volunteers are being sought to grow out one or more selected genotypes of Citrullus lanatus (var. lanatus or citroides) in isolation or in a greenhouse environment for the production of pure seed for return to the germplasm repository where it will be maintained and distributed. Anyone willing to assist in this endeavor should contact Bob Jarret at bjarret@ars-grin.gov (Tel: 770-228-7303).

X. REFRESHMENTS: HARRIS MORAN

Please let Brenda Lanini know that we appreciate Harris Moran for providing the refreshments for the 2006 Annual Meeting. Thanks Brenda and Harris Moran!

XI. PAST REFRESHMENT SPONSORSHIPS: