Morocco’s Watermelon Boom Challenges European Market Despite Climate Hurdles

The watermelon sector in Morocco has been disrupted by recurring climatic events. "It started in Zagora with a hail episode at a crucial moment, when the season was just beginning. Then, last weekend, Kariat Ba Mhamed experienced an intense heat wave, with temperatures reaching 45°C. Curiously, everything goes well during the fruit development phase, but then climatic accidents come to disrupt the harvest," explains a farmer to EastFruit.

Despite these difficulties, good performances have been recorded this season. "These problems are not serious enough to compromise the campaign. If we consider the current cycle in Kariat Ba Mhamed, the heat wave will reduce the share of exportable crops from 80% to 50%, but we observe a clear improvement in volumes, with 8.5 million plants cultivated on 2,500 hectares in this region alone," he explains.

According to FreshPlaza, progress has also been made against the spread of the MWMV virus. "It turned out that the spread of the virus was linked to the quality of the plants. Replacing the source of the plants solved the problem for early producers in Taroudant. Unfortunately, this was confirmed by the spread of the virus in late productions in the same region, among producers who made a poor choice regarding the origin of their plants," says the exporter.

He continues: "Overall, if we take the export volume as the final indicator of the season’s results, we can see that all packing stations across the country are in full activity. In our region, in Berkane, packing stations have recorded a 17% increase in watermelon exports compared to the previous season, even though we are only halfway through the campaign. The final result will undoubtedly be a great success." The next harvest cycles will take place in Berkane (in the east), then in Larache (in the north).

For the latter, it will be the peak of the season, with peak volumes and good expected quality, of which a large proportion, up to 80%, will be exportable. "I remain optimistic, as these two regions are benefiting from favorable weather conditions this year," he adds. Moreover, he notes that competition in the European market is intensifying with the arrival of products from Italy and Greece. However, he is confident that this will not affect Moroccan export volumes. "Demand remains stable in Western Europe, Nordic countries, and Eastern Europe. However, competition is becoming increasingly fierce with the arrival, last week, of large volumes of high-quality watermelons from Greece and Italy, which has lowered our average prices from 0.95 to 0.8 dollars per kilo. That said, we are confident that this will not affect Moroccan export volumes," concludes the exporter.