| Summary: | Climate change is having a tremendous influence on world food production, with arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas especially susceptible. In these areas, locally adapted crop varieties or landraces can be used to mitigate the influence of climate change on current and future food security challenges. The high genetic diversity within these populations allows for crops to adapt to changing environments or other stresses that influence growth and productivity. Thus, local Moroccan melon (<i>Cucumis melo</i>) and watermelon (<i>Citrullus lanatus</i>) landraces were compared to pure-line varieties in southwestern Morocco to identify their adaptability and possible ability to mitigate current and future climate change. Results indicated that the melon and watermelon landraces evaluated most likely could help mitigate yield losses from climate change in this area of Morocco. ‘AitOulyad’, a local muskmelon type, and ‘Rasmouka Ananas’ were both outstanding melon landraces with high plant vigor and yields. For watermelon, ‘AitOulyad’ had extremely high yields but had high numbers of seed in the flesh, while ‘Rasmouka’ had a lower yield, fewer seeds in the flesh, and a higher fruit consistency. This research indicates that melon and watermelon landraces in this area of southwestern Morocco with a semi-arid to arid climate will continue to play a major role in crop adaptation to maintain high productivity under a rapidly changing environment.
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