ABSTRACT
High-value Cucumis melo crops are susceptible to high temperatures, water saturation, and soil acidic environments. The winter season is the right time to grow C. melo crops in the tropical zone for high production returns when fruit supply is short in the spring. However, it is a challenge to cultivate high-value melons when the winter turns hot with water saturation, ooding, nitrogen de- ciency, and excess Fe ions in the soil. This chapter is focused on the relationships between the new specialty Japanese melon (C. melo L.) and environmental soil stressors and on melon crop rotation with N-xing yardlong beans (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis) in the humid, acidic, tropical environment. The results show that crop rotation with N-xation legume is a useful farming practice that helps Japanese melon plants to cope with soil acidic stress and N deciency. The introduction of Japanese melon, a st-sized, fast-growing, and tasteful fruit, as a new specialty melon, enhanced by improved crop rotation management, can lead to a healthy, protable melon production in the winter season in humid, tropical areas.
