Cucurbits Portfolio Page

Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Cucumber, and Squash Seeds

Market-leading cucurbit varieties

Contact us chevron_right

High-quality seed varieties deliver year-round value

Syngenta’s watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumber, and squash varieties deliver fruit with dynamic adaptability and industry-leading disease resistance packages.
But the benefits of Syngenta’s cucurbits don’t stop with the grower — they deliver value to distribution, retail, and the end consumer. Our extensive range of varieties offers consumer benefits such as fruit quality, texture, and delicious flavors. Long shelf-life and more durable fruits during handling offer benefits to both distribution and retail partners.

Here are some of the ways we are helping growers be more successful:

High yield potential that starts with healthy seeds and young plants

Our innovations in disease and pest resistance help protect crops from early-season threats.

Weather-resistant varieties

To meet the year-round need for fresh produce, we’re supporting crop growth in a range of climates.

New products driven by consumer demand

We are keeping an eye on the market to identify how to help growers meet consumer demands and adapt to new opportunities.

Sustainable production practices

Throughout the value chain, we’re finding solutions to improve sustainability from research to grower to consumer.

Alecio Schiavon _Manchester

Syngenta Global Cucurbits Center of Excellence in California, USA

Our Woodland site in California serves as a hub for corn, cucurbit, and fruiting vegetable research. Greenhouses, specialized plant growth environments, and an innovative plant pathology lab provide the opportunity for innovation and collaboration across a wide variety of crops, such as seedless watermelon varieties.

Watermelon varieties for every grower

At Syngenta, we offer a wide range of options so growers can access the perfect watermelon seeds that provide consumers with the attributes they prefer, including seeded, seedless, large, or small.

Full Count Plant Program

Full Count Plant Program

The Full Count® Plant Program is one of the many ways that Syngenta offers watermelon growers a transplant process that is faster, easier, and more cost-efficient. Since 2002 in the United States, Full Count has established itself as the leading supplier of quality transplants in the watermelon industry. All a grower needs to do is place an order for the number of watermelon plants needed for each planting, and one of our partner greenhouses will deliver high-quality plants directly to their field or head house.

Discover Syngenta watermelon varieties growers love today

See your country’s website for a full list of available products:

Watermelon icon

Seedless watermelon

Syngenta offers a diverse portfolio of seedless varieties, known for excellent yield potential in a wide range of growing conditions. One of our most popular crimson varieties is Fascination, a blocky, crimson variety with a deep rind color, excellent internal quality, and small pips and captivation. Crimson varieties are known to fit most planting spots and seasons and include varieties such as Excursion, Valor, Virtue, Melody, and Powerhouse. We also offer seedless sugar baby types, like Sweet Gem, Dark Knight, and Bahama, known for their dark green to black rind, vibrant red flesh, and high brix potential. And if growers are looking for a variety that's suitable for fresh cut and shipping operations, we have Crisp Delight and Golden Crisp which feature firm flesh and lower purge.

Watermelon icon2

Seeded watermelon

Our lineup of seeded watermelon varieties offers growers reliability and adaptability both as the main crop and when used as a secondary crop to pollinate seedless watermelon. The portfolio includes varieties like Manchester watermelon, which has become a leading variety in Brazil thanks to its consistency, excellent internal quality, and good transportability to markets and kitchen tables across the country. We also offer Estrella and Sangria, both as seeded and seedless, that offer early maturity, delicious flavor, and appealing external and internal quality suitable for retail and roadside stands. One of our more recent introductions, Fahari, is a jubilee rind large, seeded fruit that offers growers reliable yields, good uniformity, and delicious red, high-sugar flesh that easily makes the journey to markets across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Supporting global melon production through innovation

By leveraging our world-class genetics along with trusted grower and shipper relationships, we enable year-round production across the globe.

Ideal melons

IDEAL Melons

With the IDEAL Melons lineup, consumers around the world will have access to tasty, fresh cantaloupe all year — even in the heart of winter. Our adaptable varieties have good shelf life, transportability, and durability during processing. Whether the melon is grown in South Africa, Central America, or your backyard, it can be delivered to grocery shelves for everyone to enjoy all year.

Find Your IDEAL Match chevron_right

“IDEAL Melons have the ideal profile with the ideal flavor, musky aromatics, fruit color, and freshness, even in the dead of winter.” — Bernie Hamel, Value Added Chain Lead, Syngenta Vegetable Seeds

Harvest Indicator Trait

With our new Harvest Indicator Trait, the cantaloupe rind changes from green to a golden straw color indicating the IDEAL time to harvest from the field, the IDEAL time to ship to distribution centers, and the IDEAL time to stock shelves. This means that growers and retailers can see and smell product quality in the field and on the shelf, and they can select melons at the peak of ripeness to delight consumers with delicious, fresh fruit every time.

Ideal melons video image

play_circle

What Makes IDEAL Melons with the Harvest Indicator Trait Different?

Quality cucumber varieties with high yield potential

With disease resistance, yield potential, and quality, our cucumber varieties reflect Syngenta’s commitment to place growers and sustainability at the heart of everything we do.

Becoming more sustainable

We are committed to helping growers, processors, and retailers reduce their reliance on single-use plastic by developing cucumber varieties that do not require plastic wrap, thanks to hearty skin that does not puncture. A popular crop in Spain and the Netherlands, these varieties can travel around the world and stay shelf stable, helping achieve sustainability targets today and for the future.

video image cucurbits

play_circle

Highly resistant cucumbers

Consistent Size, Yield, and Quality Squash by Syngenta

play_circle

Consistent Size, Yield, and Quality Squash by Syngenta

Adapting to new challenges

Tomato Leaf Curl New Delhi Virus (ToLCNDV) is a threat to many cucurbit species, including cucumber. We introduced Siriana with ToLCNDV resistance to support high yield potential for growers and high fruit quality for consumers. Research is ongoing to expand our resistance lineup in cucumbers and other cucurbit species.

“Our intention is to reach the market with the highest shelf life and freshness for the consumer.” — Pedro Pleguezuelo, Syngenta Portfolio Manager, Melon and Cucumber

Meeting market needs with a broad portfolio of squash varieties

With decades of experience in squash breeding, Syngenta offers a full lineup of healthy squash with high yield potential. Varieties include both short- and long-cycle options to meet market needs, along with disease resistance or tolerance to common threats in squash. In addition, growers can choose from squash varieties that display uniformity, good color, and other traits that are important to the fresh market.

Genetics that perform

Through our squash breeding program, we select genetics that feature stronger disease resistance to the most common potyviruses, including Zucchini Yellows Mosaic Virus (ZYMV) and Watermelon Mosaic Virus 2 (WMV2), and increased versatility to ultimately drive lower production costs through:

watermelon icon

Higher commercial yield
potencial

icon2

Improved disease
resistance packages

plant architecture

Better plant architecture

Grower-friendly production and harvest traits

Grower-friendly production
and harvest traits

Zefiros squash

The Zefiros squash is perfect for the shorter summer season, as it maintains yield potential throughout hot temperatures. It is resistant to Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV), ZYMV, WMV2, and Papaya Ringspot Virus (PRSV), further supporting a consistent, predictable harvest. The fruit quality is maintained after harvest, creating high demand from traders. Thanks to its upright and open plant architecture, Zefiros can be harvested up to 30% faster than other zucchini and courgette varieties. With rising labor costs, this improvement can make a huge difference.

Zefiros squash

play_circle

Squash Zefiros

Want more information?

Contact Us chevron_right

_{All photos are either the property of Syngenta or are used with permission.}

_{© 2023 Syngenta. Some or all of the varieties may be protected under one or more of the following: Plant Variety Protection, United States Plant Patents and/or Utility Patents and may not be propagated or reproduced without authorization. The trademarks or service marks displayed or otherwise used herein are the property of a Syngenta Group Company. All other trademarks are the property of their respective third-party owners.}