Summer crops are getting trickier year after year as, while they can be successful one year, they can also be disastrous the following year. This fluctuation is true of both prices and production. Small melon producers know this all too well.
Some operators say that "this year, the season was excellent from a phytosanitary point of view. Plants did not suffer as the weather was good with no sudden temperature changes. After the frost in April, in fact, the weather was practically summery."
"The abnormal heat in May and June meant melons ripened really quickly. After the first 10 days in June, when the greenhouse produce ended, there was a huge gap due to the lack of staggering. Then suddenly volumes available boomed. On July 3rd, for example, we harvested the melons transplanted on 25th April that should have been harvested between 20th and 25th July. And the market was already stagnant."
Another gap is expected for late July/early August, but "it's difficult to predict what will happen."
"Melons will probably be short towards the end of the month as fruits have ripened abnormally over the past few days and there are few fruits left on the plants."