Moroccan Watermelon Prices Expected to Surge as Harvest Nears

"This season looks promising" and "farm yields are high," watermelon producers told Hespress. For a watermelon grower in the province of Zagora, "the selling price of a hectare of red watermelons varies depending on its yield, that is to say the number of tons the buyer can get from it."

"The watermelon harvest has not yet started to date, but it is expected within a maximum of ten days," announced the producer, adding that "the purchase price of the crops from a farm, in bulk, varies between 80,000 and 140,000 dirhams per hectare." However, "these prices do not allow predicting the price at which the consumer could buy the watermelon a week before, because the cost of the harvest, mainly labor and transportation costs, will determine this price."

The producer also indicated that "the selling price from Moroccan farms, mainly in Zagora, should be between 7 and 8 dirhams per kilogram, and the selling price on the wholesale markets could reach 10 dirhams per kilogram," specifying that "the Moroccan consumer will probably not be able to buy the watermelon at the beginning of the marketing season."

Another watermelon producer in the Chichaoua region confirmed that "the harvest of the products is generally delayed until June 20, after starting on May 20 in Taroudant, and late April in Zagora," adding that the selling price of a hectare of watermelon in Chichaoua "generally varies between 20,000 and 80,000 dirhams; however, this marketing does not start until after the end or significant drop in the Zagora product on the market."