b"A Watermelon for EveryoneWatermelon is the iconic summertime food, but what are breeders doing to improve and change it? Joe Funk jfunk@issuesink.comHOT DOGS, PICNICSand watermelon! These classic icons of sum-mertime leisure are an integral part of childhood nostalgia for many. Enjoying a watermelon's sweet, juicy taste provides a connection that takes us back to ancient Egyptian royalty and, according to Mark Twain, upward to the angels.Watermelon is chiefDNA detective work by botanists at the University of Munich inof this worlds luxuriesGermany confirms that the watermelons depicted on the walls of at least three ancient Egyptian tombs are in all certainty domesticated sweet, redWhen one has tastedfruits that were grown 3,500 years ago. In other North African countries, wild inedible watermelons with white flesh still grow.it, he knows whatGlobally, watermelons are the third most popular fruit behind tomatoes and bananas, and in 2016, watermelon production totaled 117 million tons.angels eat. In the United States, watermelon is commercially grown in 44 states Mark Twainwith the highest production in Georgia, Florida, Texas, California and Arizona. Nearly 6% of all land used for growing produce in the United States is planted with watermelon. In the United States, consumers over-whelmingly prefer seedless melons. Consumers in other regions have dif-ferent preferences.54/ SEEDWORLD.COMFEBRUARY 2020"