With an expected production of 430.000 tons this month, the Spanish sector expects that melon and watermelon forecasts have good prices. Something that they have previously analyzed already in Castilla la Mancha, where fruit growers expect a supply-demand balance. On the other hand, as for the stone fruit, riding a Catalonia They are not optimistic at all, also because another issue is having an impact. The rise of Minimum Interprofessional Salary (SMI) of the government that also reaches the field could have consequences for not coming out the numbers.
What are the forecasts for melon and watermelon?
We are in season for both refreshing fruits, which represent an important contribution of water when temperatures are high. We can already enjoy from the beginning of summer both melons and watermelons, but the strongest month for farmers is August. Therefore, Cristóbal Jiménez, president of the Interprofessional of Melon and Watermelon in Castilla-La Mancha, has advanced to Effeagro how the campaign could take place.
It is planned to obtain about 190.000 tons of watermelon with a "reasonable price" on the market. On the other hand, for the melon, from the organization they express their optimism that the price strategy that the distributors wish to put is "corrected". The figure will be around 28 cents per kilo in the extra varieties of the fruit, a number that would be bad news for farmers. They would receive between 10 and 12 cents, "below the cost of production." For this product, an estimated 240.000 tons of production are estimated.
Thus are the melon and watermelon forecasts in 2019. "The Castilian-Manchego melon is of great quality, its cut is being carried out at the optimum moment", he believes Jimenez. Then the quantity produced can be "very well" taken over by the market. The one who welcomes this type of summer season fruits that you want so much too. On the other hand, the fruits that are not giving good vibes to the fruit growers are those of bone. In Catalonia, From the Agro-food cooperatives dedicated to these products, transmit the complaints of farmers. Those who "are not going to see the liquidations they expected."
Consequences of a higher SMI
Apart from melon and watermelon forecasts, one of the most worrying issues in the field is also the increase in Minimum Interprofessional Salary (SMI), currently located in 900 €. The rise of 22% has led to "fewer contracts for thinning fruit trees, with the consequent reduction in sizes," as explained by the Secretary General of Asaja Aragon, Angel Samper. With this further conditioning factor, "discouragement and helplessness grows", since public aid is necessary for the sector.
“We are worse off than in 2017, when prices bottomed out. We have had cash difficulties for several years ", he recalls Samper. For its part, the agrarian organization UPA-UCE, describes the current campaign as "catastrophic" due to the "ruinous prices" of the plum Extremadura. And that the forecast in stone fruit that we told you two months ago was different.
