Longer melon season in Hungary

Published 2022년 8월 20일

Tridge summary

The article highlights a decrease in melon cultivation in Europe, including Hungary, with the agricultural area falling below 3,000 hectares, primarily due to labor shortages and increased production costs, especially with the tripling of fertilizer prices. Despite higher melon prices, there are expectations for restructuring in the sector, with smaller producers possibly shutting down and larger ones mechanizing harvest and maintaining full-time employment. There's concern about the rise of imported melons over locally grown ones in Europe, despite the health benefits of Hungarian melons and the significant export of the fruit to neighboring countries. The article emphasizes the importance of consuming melons for their hydration and vitamin content, and the potential positive effects on kidney and liver health.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Thanks to the past two seasons, the area planted with melons in Europe, including in our country, has decreased, it no longer reaches 3,000 hectares, said Péter Kelemen, the executive director of FruitVeB, at the event promoting domestic melon consumption held in Zamárdi on the opening day of the Beach Festival. The decrease in the cultivated area can be traced primarily to the labor shortage. Despite the more favorable melon prices than last year, the area under melon production in the country is not expected to increase, however, they expect a reorganization: smaller producers may shrink, while larger ones may increase their production area. The latter can somewhat mechanize the harvest and employ the workforce throughout the year. Growing costs, especially the tripling of the price of fertilizer, are also a serious challenge for melon growers. Due to the significant increase in costs, only those producers who were able to achieve a high yield with adequate irrigation can be ...

Source: magyarmezogazdasag