<P> Charles Fredric Andrus, a horticulturist at the USDA Vegetable Breeding Laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina, set out to produce a disease - resistant and wilt - resistant watermelon . The result, in 1954, was "that gray melon from Charleston". Its oblong shape and hard rind made it easy to stack and ship . Its adaptability meant it could be grown over a wide geographical area . It produced high yields and was resistant to the most serious watermelon diseases: anthracnose and fusarium wilt . </P> <P> Others were also working on disease - resistant varieties; J.M. Crall at the University of Florida produced "Jubilee" in 1963 and C.V. Hall of Kansas State University produced "Crimson sweet" the following year . These are no longer grown to any great extent, but their lineage has been further developed into hybrid varieties with higher yields, better flesh quality and attractive appearance . Another objective of plant breeders has been the elimination of the seeds which occur scattered throughout the flesh . This has been achieved through the use of triploid varieties, but these are sterile, and the cost of producing the seed by crossing a tetraploid parent with a normal diploid parent is high . </P> <P> Today, farmers in approximately 44 states in the United States grow watermelon commercially . Georgia, Florida, Texas, California and Arizona are the United States' largest watermelon producers . This now - common fruit is often large enough that groceries often sell half or quarter melons . Some smaller, spherical varieties of watermelon--both red - and yellow - fleshed--are sometimes called "icebox melons". The largest recorded fruit was grown in Tennessee in 2013 and weighed 159 kilograms (351 pounds). </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Major watermelon producers, 2016 (millions of tonnes) </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> China </Td> <Td> 79.2 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Turkey </Td> <Td> 3.9 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Iran </Td> <Td> 3.8 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Brazil </Td> <Td> 2.0 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> World </Td> <Td> 111.0 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Where is watermelon grown in the united states
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