Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Water-melon season comes to an end
The majority of water-melon producers finished the sales; they are summing up the results. According to the evaluation of the Agricultural Marketing Project (AMP), water-melon production was quire viable this year, the season may be considered as successful. As to AMP assessments, water-melon production exceeded past year level a little bit. The trend of the technologies application was preserved, so that the farmers were able to have better yield in most cases - it increased 7-10%, according to AMP evaluations. The weather favored water-melon growth as well. Only in Odesa oblast hail damaged water-melon fields significantly. The price on water-melon was high comparing to the previous year - during the peak season it was kept on USD 0.08/kg level on the wholesale markets in the regions-producers. The producers sold the product out from field on not less than USD 0.05-0.06/kg. Single water-melon supplies are left now on markets. The wholesale price grew up to USD 0.16-0.3/kg depending from the region. We'll mention that past year the price on water-melon was 30-50% less in Kherson oblast, and in 2003 the product was sold on USD 0.02-0.03/kg out from the field.
The leader of water-melon production is still Kherson oblast, where 56% of the total national output has been harvested this year, according to AMP evaluations. At the same time, in Crimea, Dnepropetrovsk, Cherkasy, Sumy oblasts water-melon production has been increased significantly.
Still, 2005 was not like the previous year in many ways. The difference in price on water-melon was very significant for the regions-producers and the regions where the product is supplied. For example, even when the wholesale price in Kherson was USD 0.08/kg, in Kyiv the price did not drop down lower than USD 0.18-0.2/kg. The main factor of such a significant price difference was the increased fuel price.
Market players also observe a constantly growing interest to the quality characteristics of water-melon from the side of buyers. It is not enough now to grow a huge water-melon; to be sold well, it should satisfy the color and flavor preferences of the buyers. One of the main conditions for quality water-melon production is a top quality seeds; some producers allocated money for quality seeds, so they have been able to sell the produced commodities 1.5-2 times more expensive than their competitors.
The threats from the side of water-melons imported from Russia, and also the possibilities to export this product to the EU countries made farmers think hard this year. To our regret, national producers seem to loose a significant share both of inner market and the potential export, cause they will not win the competition with Russian producers. This year Russian water-melon was presented on Ukrainian markets quite frequently, it was mainly imported from Astrakhan oblast. Higher price of Ukrainian water-melons comparing to Russian hampered the export development for these commodities.