Costa Rica melon export decline further enhanced by pandemic

The cultivation and export of melons is in a downward spiral in Costa Rica. According to data from the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Agency (Procomer), the value of melon exports fell by 19% in the first seven months of 2019, in other words before the outbreak of the pandemic, compared to the same period in 2015. , namely from € 58 million to € 47 million. This downward trend was exacerbated by the pandemic, as when comparing 2015 to 2021, the decline comes to 57% (€25 million in the first seven months of 2021). The melon acreage also reflects the decline, as according to figures from the Executive Secretariat for Agricultural Planning (Sepsa), it fell from 5,566 hectares in 2015 to 3,394 hectares in 2020. In 2006, when melon cultivation was relatively new and flourished due to a promotion campaign under the government's export diversification program, the acreage was still about 12,000 hectares. Wendy Vargas, president of the National Chamber of Growers and Exporters of ...