Melon growers named the main problems: thrips and frosts have nothing to do with it
The active watermelon season in Moscow starts in just a few days, and the networks are already full of forecasts that not everyone will be able to afford melons. The Ministry of Agriculture reassures: the situation is under control, there will be no sharp increase in prices for watermelons and melons. The key word here is «sharp». Compared to last year, the cost of watermelons has already increased by 33%. What to expect next, who and why is raising prices?
According to official data, the harvest of melons and gourds in recent years has been stable at 0.6-0.7 million tons, this volume is quite sufficient for the needs of the domestic market. This year, although not the most successful in terms of weather, is no exception, the yield in general should be within the limits set by the Ministry of Agriculture.
The positive picture is spoiled by some forecasts of market participants: they say that much fewer watermelons and melons will be harvested, and therefore it is necessary to prepare for higher prices for melons. There is no smoke without fire: watermelons are already more expensive than last year. On average, Astrakhan and Volgograd watermelons are about 40 rubles per kilogram, imported ones from Iran have doubled in price.
After all the weather cataclysms this year, analysts see a shortfall in the harvest (and, consequently, higher prices) for literally all agricultural crops.
Different experts cite different reasons for the decline in the harvest. Some claim that the invasion of the melon fields by the harmful insect thrips is to blame. It, like the Colorado potato beetle on potatoes, destroys the berries at the root. Other analysts blame the May frosts.
We contact the Astrakhan region, which is rightfully considered the watermelon capital of Russia. Every third berry (and watermelon, as we know, is a berry!) is grown in this region and is its brand. In this regard, they tell a story here about how 10 years ago, in June, a train with a label (trade mark) of Astrakhan watermelons arrived in the Irkutsk region. Which the residents of the Irkutsk region categorically did not like: they were not just not sweet, but sour. They began to figure out what was what. It turned out that watermelons in Astrakhan had not yet begun to be harvested by that time, and these arrived from China. And they simply stuck a fake trademark on them.
I ask the head of the regional farmers' association, Alexander Kovbas: what will the prices for melons be this season?
He says that the harvest is expected to be at the level of last year, about 200 thousand tons of watermelons. And the cost of their production has not increased much either.
— Electricity, gas and water tariffs have increased by an average of 10-15%. The region is currently experiencing extreme heat, although temperatures above 40 degrees are normal for us. As well as for watermelons. But they need to be watered. The pumps run on electricity, which is not cheap. Melon growers have many large foreign trucks, and spare parts for them have increased 3-4 times. It is not the production of watermelons, but their delivery that determines prices. Gasoline and diesel fuel have also increased in price.
— No, we have completely different problems. While a watermelon is growing, it sucks organic matter out of the soil for 7 years in advance. You can't plant watermelon after watermelon two years in a row; you need more and more new areas.
— It varies, from 10 to 50 rubles per kilogram. Melons are 20-50 rubles. Some people are waiting for an even higher price and are holding on to their goods. Those who sell for 10 rubles are indebted farms, they would like to somehow pay off their creditors. If the accounts are frozen, then the price for cash will be halved. In a couple of months, they will sell their harvest for 2-3 rubles.
… In a couple of months, the watermelon season in Moscow will end and then no one will care about the prices of the product.
Although if individual Astrakhan melon growers are already selling watermelons wholesale from the field for 50 rubles, then by the time they get to Moscow, they will probably have risen in price by 2-3 times. It remains to clarify with the Ministry of Agriculture: is this a sharp jump or within the limits of inflation?