Honeydew melon production is making its way southwards into the Mexican growing regions. Nogales-based MAS Melons and Grapes said its production in Caborca began in early October, and soon the season in Hermosillo will start. It will then move further southwards at the end of the year.
"Honeydew melons are currently coming in steady volumes, with Caborca currently in production," said Mikee Suarez of MAS Melons and Grapes. "We are about a week away from starting in Hermosillo which will take us through to mid-December. The melon season will then transition to the Southwest of Mexico in Colima, near Tecoman, from mid-December to March. Overall, our honeydew program spans over ten months of the year."
Hurricanes had minimal impact
The west coast of Mexico has been struck by a number of hurricanes and tropical storms in the last couple of months, the latest being Hurricane Willa a week ago. While these systems have caused losses for a number of crops like mangoes, tomatoes and chili peppers, honeydew melon growers say the majority of the destructive weather missed the melon growing regions, with only rain from Hurricane Sergio having any impact.
"Sergio didn't pass directly over the honeydew melon growing areas, however there were scattered rains for two to three days in relation to the system," Suarez observed. "Some of the fields did get wet, causing quality to drop for a short while. This resulted in a greater amount of melons sent to the processors. However, it wasn't detrimental and could have been much worse. Both quality and production is up again now and the season is going full steam ahead."
"We are also looking to expand our soft squash program as last year we experienced an excellent response," he continued. "We are currently increasing our acreage of soft squash and will look to have an expanded offering soon."
Mikee Suarez
New website
MAS Melons & Grapes has recently launched its new website. According to Suarez, the new website and design is more interactive and has a number of added features, including better smartphone and tablet accessibility, pictures and contact information of grower partners and staff, product availability calendar, latest company videos and press releases, complete quality and food safety certifications, social media venues, growing regions, sales offices and HQ location map, among other things.
“Our new website will be updated on a continual basis with product launches and recipes, new growing areas, videos, news and customer and consumer-oriented information” he said. “The new website’s tech abilities are mobile-friendly, thus enabling anyone, from any part of the globe, to engage in business, make commercial inquiries and interact with us at any time from their laptop, smartphone or tablet."
For more information:
Mikee Suarez
MAS Melons and Grapes
Tel: +1 (520) 377-2372
mikee@masmelons.com
www.masmelons.com