Owners of watermelon plantations in the Kherson region are concerned about the increasingly long period of summer heat, because of which they lose part of the crop even when irrigated.

Melons and watermelons cannot withstand temperatures that reach up to 50 ° C in the steppes at the height of the day. And this is not surprising, because melons and watermelons stop developing already at a temperature of 40 ° C.

They do not take moisture and nutrients from the earth. Therefore, irrigation here can not help, because melons are not watered, but they need to be cooled. Breeders have to adapt to global warming and develop new varieties adapted to high temperatures.

At the Southern Research Station of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in the Golopristan District of the Kherson Region, work is already underway to create a watermelon resistant to elevated temperatures. It is planned that this watermelon will have a red core and will not stop the growing season at temperatures up to 47 ° C. In the work on a new variety, the best watermelon varieties from Asia, the USA and Korea are used. Most likely, you can see a new heat-resistant watermelon no earlier than 2020.

It’s not enough to simply plant a plant resistant to high temperatures. It is necessary for it to have excellent tastes and benefit the human body, summarizes the director of the Southern Research Station of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Candidate of Agricultural Sciences Volodymyr Lymar. - In general, both in Ukraine and around the world, scientists do not have time to develop new drought-resistant varieties and develop advanced technologies. So far, climate change is ahead of us.