The Evaluation of the Morphological Diversity of Native Accessions of Melon (Cucumis melo L. var. reticulate) from Southern Kerman

Attaining our predictions requires the use of desirable cultivars or hybrids based on the change in the cultivation pattern in southern Kerman province and also predicting the increase in the production levels and amount of crop over next four years. Therefore, while causing more and higher quality products, identifying the potential of native populations and moving towards their improvement, can be effective to reduce seed supply costs. To this objective, 45 samples of different types of native accessions of melon (Cucumis melo L. var.Reticulate) in southern Kerman province were collected and evaluated for quantitative and qualitative traits. The results showed that most traits had high phenotypic variation. Fruit firmness had the highest diversity coefficient (80.8%), and day to ripping had the lowest diversity (11.67%).  Among evaluated accessions, considering the appearance, there were six different types of fruits. Regarding the results, the accessions of southern Kerman cantaloupes have high diversity in terms of morphological and qualitative characteristics, and this diversity can be used to produce pure lines with desirable properties (including Fruit texture firmness and fruit shape). Moreover, producing the hybrid is possible by purifying the accessions and producing inbred lines.