Virus Damages Watermelon Crop Across Israel, But Poses No Health Risk

An unusual outbreak of a cucurbit virus has already affected about 20% of Israel’s watermelon-growing area, the Agricultural Natural Damage Insurance Fund, known as KANT, said Wednesday. The damage is estimated in the millions of shekels, and KANT has approved the destruction of more than 1,000 dunams of watermelons, roughly 10% of the country’s total watermelon acreage.

The problem is not only the virus. KANT said poor weather earlier in the season, including cloud cover and cold in March, hurt fruit development and sharply reduced yields in warm regions such as the northern Jordan Valley and the Emek HaMaayanot. The virus then spread this year at five to six times the usual annual rate.

Affected watermelons become mealy, look unripe, and in some cases show white flesh or yellow stripes. KANT stressed that the virus damages taste and texture only, making the fruit unsellable, but does not pose a health risk to the public. Damage has been recorded in fields across the country, including the Jordan Valley, the Lower Galilee, and communities near the Gaza border.

To prevent bad fruit from reaching markets and to avoid unnecessary expenses for farmers, KANT is authorizing destruction of infected fields before harvest. Picking costs are estimated at about 2,000 shekels per dunam, so early disposal also saves harvesting, transport, and logistics costs for fruit that cannot be sold. The watermelon season runs until August, and KANT warned that more damage may appear as harvest time approaches, saying, “We still do not see the end,” and that the harm could expand to thousands of additional dunams.