Sardinia, Italy : Bizarre weather turns melon market into a rollercoaster

The melon area of OP Agricola Campidanese in Sardinia this year covers approximately 350 hectares. Three-quarters of the melons and watermelons have already been harvested and sold, but the season seems to have more lows than highs. The poor performance of this summer product, which came onto the market late, is mainly due to unfavorable weather conditions. We talked about it with Salvatore Lotta, director of this producer organization, known in Europe for the L'Orto di Eleonora brand. "We can compare the season to a rollercoaster," he explains. "The weather has caused many problems, both in the planting and growth of the seedlings and during the ripening and harvesting phases, causing the market to change quickly and unpredictably. After a rainy month of June, which caused a delay in the ripening and a fall in yields, the scorching heat in July boosted demand, but that was the only time consumption was stimulated, as temperatures dropped again in the first ten days of August, ...