Digital and sensor-based technologies for preharvest melon production management: a PRISMA systematic mapping review

Digital and sensor-based systems for preharvest melon (Cucumis melo) management are expanding, but evidence remains fragmented across sensing, analytics, decision support, actuation and validation. We conducted a PRISMA 2020 systematic mapping review of 2021–2025 Scopus and ScienceDirect literature, supplemented by citation chasing, structured extraction and a 0–10 quality appraisal. We mapped task–technology corridors linking irrigation/fertigation, climate control, disease/pest monitoring, yield/growth estimation, quality assessment and harvest planning with sensing modalities, analytics, decision outputs, actuation reporting and evidence strength. Unlike broader precision agriculture reviews that organize evidence mainly by technology or application, this crop-specific framework provides an auditable map of deployable preharvest Cucumis melo management pathways. Evidence clustered around input management, with proximal sensing dominant in irrigation/fertigation and vision pipelines dominant in disease monitoring, whereas harvest support, actuation integration and external validation remained limited. We propose minimum reporting items to improve the auditability and field translation.