In the face of the sharp drop in melon and watermelon prices last week, ASAJA Castilla-La Mancha demanded that the production costs be respected. The vice president of the agrarian organization, Florencio RodrÃguez, said this was a temporary situation and that things should normalize in the coming days.
According to the vice president, "The rains at the end of May delayed the planting of the crops for fifteen days. As a result, now that the melons and watermelons are being harvested, there is a higher concentration of supply than usual at this time and prices have decreased. In addition, in the case of watermelon, the rains and low temperatures in Europe have momentarily slowed down the consumption of this fruit and, as a consequence, exports. However, this is a specific situation that should normalize in a few days."
"The quality of our products is exceptional and, despite this specific price crisis, Castilian-Manchego melons and watermelons have a great reception in national and international markets," Rodriguez said, adding that he hoped that things would soon improve.
However, he condemned that farmers were being offered prices below production costs, which stand at 0.35 euro/kilo for melon and 0.30 euro/kilo for watermelon. He demanded compliance with the Food Chain Law and warned that they would be vigilant and inform the Food Information and Control Agency (AICA) of any irregularity.
Market prices
According to the Melon and Watermelon Price Table of the Agricultural Fruit and Vegetable Market of Castilla-La Mancha, prices have fallen by 40% to 50% two weeks after the first auction of the campaign.
Two weeks after the first auction was held, in the session of August 9, melon prices stood at 0.51-0.54 euro/kilo for the extra category, 0.40-0.43 for the first category, and 0.20-0.23 for the second category. The price of the first category seedless black watermelon stood at 0.31-0.34 euro/kilo and the price of white watermelon at 0.32-0.35 euro/kilo. Second-category melons and watermelons prices stood between 0.19 and 0.22 euro/kilo.
Source: asaja.com