Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai - Cucurbit Breeding ...

controlling linkage drag, or in reducing the number of generations required to restore in the selected progeny the
quality of the adapted parent by backcross breeding.
In order to facilitate and expedite progress in developing basic information and tools for molecular
genetics and biotechnology in watermelon, a coordinated effort of breeders and molecular geneticists will be
required. The objectives should be prioritized and a consortium should be created for the development and
release of basic mapping and transformation tools. In this first phase, the involvement of private sponsors
would be fundamental, but proprietary issues of the information produced may limit the availability of private
funding.
Final Remarks
In conclusion, a greater support by governmental agencies and private seed companies will be
necessary to increase the number of researchers involved in watermelon breeding and genetics. Furthermore,
funding of public breeding programs of all horticultural crops should be a shared responsibility of public and
private institutions. The nutritional value of horticultural crops to human nutrition is now widely recognized,
but the support for research is still very limited.
Plant breeding has been a key player in the green revolution of the last century, which greatly reduced
hunger in the world. Nevertheless, in the last decade the number of institutions and people involved in plant
breeding and genetics has been declining constantly and rapidly. More funding is urgently needed to sustain
what remains of public sector plant breeding. A common policy for training and employment of future plant
breeders and geneticists is also strongly needed.
The ever-growing human population, and the reduction of land available to agriculture, together with
the need for more environmentally-friendly cultural practices, require the development of new cultivars capable
of producing higher outputs with lower inputs. Yet, public plant breeders are disappearing and those left are not
well funded. Private breeders are focusing their efforts on fewer crops each year and are being consolidated
into fewer seed companies that can support the cost of research, but cannot support research on long-term or
low-payoff areas.
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