Morphological characteristics of pollen from triploid watermelon and its fate on stigmas in a hybrid crop production system
Hybrid crop production is more reliant on pollinators compared to open-pollinated crops because they require cross-pollination between a male-fertile and a male-sterile line. Little is known about how stigma receipt of pollen from male-sterile genotypes affects reproduction in hybrids. Non-viable and non-compatible pollen cannot fertilise plant ovules, but may still interfere with pollination succ
