Performance Evaluation of Watermelon Varieties for Small-sized Fruit

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus L) is a warm-season fruit crop with high demand in summer, rich in nutrients like lycopene, vitamin C, and citrulline, and preferred for fresh consumption. In Bhutan, watermelon is an emerging cash crop with potential for domestic production, but there's a need to evaluate new varieties that match local preferences for size and taste. The adaptability and performance evaluation of three new watermelon varieties for size and taste was conducted during the spring season of 2025 at the Agriculture Research and Development Centre (ARDC), Samtenling research station farm. The research design was a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications and three treatments. These varieties were Summer Sweet (Japanese variety), Sweet Watermelon (Chinese variety), and Sugar Baby (check variety). The Chinese variety and check variety were open-pollinated (OP) varieties, whereas the Japanese one was an F1 hybrid. The results of the study showed a statistically significant difference (p < .05) for fruit weight, fruit height, fruit diameter and TSS% among all three varieties. The total soluble solids (TSS) % of Summer Sweet was 14.40%, and that of Sugar Baby and Sweet Watermelon were 11.92% and 13.35%, respectively. The mean fruit weight of Summer Sweet was 3.12 kg, that of Sugar Baby was 4.28 kg, and that of Sweet Watermelon was 5.85 kg. Summer Sweet had the longest vine length (5.11 m), and Sugar Baby had the shortest (3.84 m). From the research findings, Summer Sweet proved to be the most palatable offering size preferred by customers and was sweeter than the other two varieties. Additionally, Summer Sweet had higher yields than the other two varieties and produced more fruits per plant. On the other hand, Sweet Watermelon had the largest fruit size among the varieties. Therefore, Summer Sweet is preferred for the small-sized fruit and taste profile of the Bhutanese customers.