In addition to sugar content, growers may consider market prices, weather conditions, anticipated yields, and distance to the market in deciding when to harvest. Among production perils, excessive rain is identified as the most serious peril in south Texas and in the eastern and midwestern cantaloupe-producing areas. Excessive heat, excessive cold, excessive cloudiness, hail, drought, and high winds may also cause yield losses. Whiteflies, pickleworms, and cucumber beetles are identified as the most widespread insect problems, while mildews, blight, and vine decline are the chief disease problems. In California, weather-related crop losses are relatively uncommon.
Whiteflies reduce the plant's vigor and serve as carriers for plant viruses.
Because damage occurs only after whitefly populations build up, losses have been limited to fall cantaloupes. Extended periods of heat are needed for rapid growth of whitefly populations, and the spring crop, consequently, has been largely unaffected. Our assessment is that cantaloupe is a good candidate for multiple-peril crop insurance in Texas and in the central and eastern United States. Growers in these areas face a wide array of yield-reducing production perils, especially perils linked to excessive rain and moisture. Disaster assistance payment and crop production statistics suggest relatively large crop losses among growers in the central, southern, and eastern U.S., when compared with those in Arizona and California.