Murcian melons and watermelons have doubled their normal value during this summer’s campaign in what has been described as an “extraordinary season for the sector”.
Alfonso Gálvez Caravaca, general secretary of local fresh produce association Asaja Murcia, said the results showed that growers in the Spanish region had recovered from a poor winter campaign, when heavy losses of lettuce, broccoli and artichoke were registered.
Mr Gálvez Caravaca said returns for watermelons, which usually oscillated between €0.06 and €0.15, had soared to €0.35 per unit this season. Returns to melon growers had also increased from an average of €0.40 to almost €1, he said.
The association said the rise in returns was the result of increasing demand for melons and watermelons across Europe, combined with a fall in production at a global level.
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