Global Times: Fresh stories from the fields: Why does watermelon stay sweet all year round?

BEIJING, March 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- "We will diversify our food supply by advancing crop farming, forestry, animal husbandry, and fisheries in tandem." "Initiatives will be advanced to invigorate the seed industry, and faster moves will be taken to identify and cultivate ground-breaking seed varieties and promote their use. We will promote the R&D and application of appropriate, advanced agricultural machinery and equipment, and see that agricultural technologies reach the fields and farmers."

This year's Government Work Report has laid out key arrangements for work related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers. Across China's farmlands, new technologies, new crop varieties and new production scenarios are emerging one after another.

Starting today, this page launches a new series, "Fresh Stories from the Fields," focusing on new developments and trends in agriculture — from watermelon breeding to unmanned farms — highlighting the latest achievements and the vibrant vitality taking shape in the countryside.

At the Liguo Shunxin Supermarket in Jiaxiang County, East China's Shandong Province, rows of round, plump watermelons stand out on the shelves. Around noon, customers stream in continuously, with some picking up whole watermelons while others ask store staff to cut them open and sell them by weight.

China is the world's largest producer and consumer of watermelons, with annual output remaining stable at around 60 million tons. According to statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, this accounts for roughly 60 percent of global production.

Following the sweet story behind China's seemingly effortless "watermelon freedom," reporters explored how the fruit is supplied steadily throughout the year.

Strong demand, reliable quality

At the Liguo Shunxin Supermarket, "Mibao" watermelons grown in Southwest China's Yunnan Province sell for more than 4.99 yuan ($0.72) per jin (500 grams). "Even though the price is higher than in summer, sales remain strong," said supermarket manager Zhang Hongtao, pointing to a staff member restocking the display.

Over the past half month, the store has maintained daily watermelon sales of more than 160 jin with weekend sales exceeding 240 jin.

Zhang Hongtao has observed that during the off-season, customers usually buy smaller quantities at a time, but they purchase watermelons frequently and show strong willingness to buy them.

Ms Zhang, who was selecting a watermelon, is one such regular customer. "Watermelons are juicy and sweet without being overwhelming. Both the elderly and children in my family love them," she said with a smile. "It was still cold recently, but sitting at home with the heater on and eating watermelon feels just as refreshing as having a cold drink in summer."

The steady demand during the off-season is not only driven by consumers' taste preferences and emotional appeal, but also by reliable product quality.

To ensure optimal flavor, the supermarket stores watermelons in refrigerated display cabinets, where they can remain in good condition for seven to ten days. "Some customers worry that the watermelons might not be ripe enough during this period, so we also offer a service where they can cut one open to check before purchasing," Zhang Hongtao said.

At the Hushan Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market in Jiaxiang Street, Jiaxiang County, Shandong, 10 tons of watermelons freshly shipped from a production base in South China's Hainan Province were being unloaded.

Li Jianguo, who has been in the watermelon wholesale business for more than a decade, explained that during spring and summer the market mainly sells locally grown varieties such as "Tianwang" and "Jingxin." When temperatures drop, supply relies largely on southern production areas. These varieties typically have thicker rinds for transportation, accumulate sufficient sugar, and maintain stable flavor, Li said.

The strong off-season market is also reflected in price trends.

"Watermelon supply and prices show clear seasonal patterns," said Zhao Junye, a researcher at the Agricultural Information Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS).

After October each year, watermelon supply begins to decline and prices gradually rise. In the first quarter, the national average wholesale price generally exceeds 3 yuan per jin. After April, supply increases significantly and prices fall rapidly. By the third quarter, when northern production regions harvest in large volumes, prices usually reach their lowest levels of the year, Zhao said.

Sufficient supply across seasons

Hainan island, with abundant heat and sunlight, is one of China's major winter production bases for fruits and vegetables. At the Beishanyang planting base in Haitang district of Sanya, Hainan Province, the watermelon harvest has already been completed.

"With good varieties and good packaging, sales are also strong," said Zhang Wei, head of the base and deputy general manager of Hainan State Farms Shenquan Group Co, noting that the base grows seedless Qilin watermelons with bright red flesh, crisp texture and rich sweetness, with their sugar content reaching 14 degrees, making them highly popular in the market.

To deliver this cross-season sweetness to consumers far away, careful work goes into packaging at the fields. Workers carefully select watermelons and pack them into specially designed corrugated cartons. Each box holds four watermelons weighing between 10 and 12 jin each, separated by thick cardboard partitions. According to Zhang Wei, watermelons shipped to other regions of China currently only require moderate insulation during transport and do not need cold-chain logistics.

Watermelons grown at the base are mainly supplied to supermarkets in Shandong, Beijing and northeastern China. The market price of about 4 yuan per jin is higher than the previous range of 2.8 to 3.5 yuan per jin in past years. Zhang Wei said the base expanded its planting area to 500 mu (33.33 hectares) last year, with yields of about 5,000 jin per mu. "The melons were already fully booked before they were harvested," he said.

To accommodate watermelons' preference for warmth and sunlight while protecting them from excessive rain, the base has built greenhouses that shield the crops from wind and rain while maintaining stable temperature and heat. Drip irrigation systems and monitoring equipment have also been introduced to create an optimal microclimate for watermelon growth.

So what is the secret behind year-round watermelon supply?

Xu Yong, a researcher at the Beijing Vegetable Research Center of the Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, explained that China's vast territory provides diverse geographical and climatic advantages.

Combined with the development of suitable varieties and the widespread application of technologies such as integrated water and fertilizer management, and green pest control, suitable environments for watermelon growth can be found in different regions across different seasons, according to Xu.

Currently, China's watermelon production is concentrated in five major regions. The Yangtze River Basin and the Huang-Huai-Hai region account for more than 69 percent of total output, while South China, Northwest China and Northeast China play supporting roles.

In terms of year-round supply, South China provides winter production, the Yangtze River Basin and Huang-Huai-Hai region enable early spring harvests, the northwest region extends the harvest season later into the year, and open-field cultivation in the northeast and northwest regions ensures summer and autumn supply.

Molecular breeding yields diverse watermelons

In Yanjiacun village of Yaojia Town, Zhongmu County in Central China's Henan Province, farmer Ma Xiuhong manages 2 mu of greenhouse land. In addition to conventional varieties, she reserves half a mu to grow "rainbow watermelons." These days, she has been busy transplanting newly cultivated seedlings into the soil.

The "rainbow watermelon" she refers to is a new specialty variety developed in recent years by the Zhengzhou Fruit Research Institute of the CAAS. When cut open, the melon reveals red and yellow dual-colored flesh arranged like a rainbow. It is also highly sweet, crisp in texture, and rich in beta-carotene.

"This variety was developed by crossing a high-sugar red-flesh watermelon with a crisp yellow-flesh watermelon and selecting superior offspring," explained Zhao Shengjie, an associate researcher at the Zhengzhou institute.

To meet consumers' increasingly personalized preferences, China's watermelon breeding has continuously followed market trends. Xu said watermelon varieties in China are now highly diverse. In terms of maturity, they include early, mid-early and late-maturing types. In size, they range from large and medium to small watermelons. In flesh color, they include red, yellow, orange and multicolored varieties, Xu said.

"Jingmei 2K," a variety bred by Xu's team with an average weight of about 4 jin per fruit, has become China's most widely planted small watermelon variety and better fits current consumer demand.

Behind this diversity lies the "China sweetness" brought by nation's scientific breeding. China's watermelon breeding technology ranks among the world's leading group, with domestic varieties accounting for more than 98 percent of the market. High quality has become the standard in the domestic market.

As early as 2012, Xu's team completed the world's first watermelon genome map, opening the "black box" of watermelon genetics. The research identified multiple genes resistant to diseases such as fusarium wilt, anthracnose and powdery mildew, and also clarified the genetic functions related to fruit sugar content, size and shape.

"In recent years, we have adopted advanced molecular breeding methods," Xu said. "By combining desirable genes through molecular markers, we have greatly improved breeding efficiency, precision and target orientation, shortening the breeding cycle from seven to ten years to just three to four years."

Looking ahead, what direction will watermelon breeding take? Xu explained that production still faces challenges such as increasingly frequent extreme weather and the emergence of new plant diseases. At the same time, consumers are demanding higher standards in both flesh color and fruit quality.

As a result, further exploration of genes for disease resistance, environmental tolerance and superior quality is still needed. This will continue to improve watermelon resilience and quality while expanding the range of varieties. "In particular, high-quality medium and small watermelons with diverse flesh colors are likely to become a highlight of future watermelon varieties," Xu said.

This was compiled from an article originally published on the tenth page of the People's Daily on March 17,2026.