Fusarium spp. are major soil-borne pathogens causing severe wilt disease in melon, leading to significant reductions in yield and fruit quality. This study aimed to evaluate the resistance of selected cucurbit species to Fusarium wilt and to assess the yield and fruit quality of Cucumis melo L. var. makuwa grafted onto cucurbit rootstocks under Fusarium incarnatum infection. The experiment was conducted using a completely randomised two-factorial design. The results demonstrated that F. incarnatum induced more severe disease symptoms than F. equiseti. Among the cucurbit species evaluated, Benincasa hispida and C. melo var. conomon exhibited higher resistance to Fusarium wilt compared with Luffa aegyptiaca and C. melo var. makuwa. When used as rootstocks for grafting C. melo var. makuwa, these resistant species significantly improved plant performance under pathogen pressure. Melons grafted onto C. melo var. conomon achieved the highest marketable yield (23.1 t ha-1) and fruit soluble solids content (14.7 °Brix), whereas ungrafted plants recorded the lowest values (18.6 t ha-1 and 13.5 °Brix, respectively). These findings suggest that C. melo var. conomon is a promising rootstock for mitigating Fusarium wilt and enhancing melon productivity and fruit quality and its use is therefore recommended for sustainable melon production in Fusarium-infested soils.
Khai et al. (2026) studied this question.