A virulent disease has decimated much of the Costa Rican melon crop.

Acidovoraxa – a bacterial infection that affects melon seeds - has wiped out 95 per cent of the yellow honeydew yields and reduced watermelon volumes.

Costa Rican honeydew melon usually arrives on the UK market in January. So far nothing has been sent and importers are looking to alternative sources of supply.

Growers have begun replanting, but the crop will not be available in the UK until April.

The outbreak of the disease represents a considerable blow to Costa Rican horticulture – melon growers have lost six weeks worth of revenue, and those traditionally employed in melon production have been left with little or nothing to do.

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