Over 1,000 Dunams of Watermelons Destroyed as Season Begins Amid Virus Outbreak

More than 1,000 dunams of watermelons have already been destroyed across Israel, causing damage measured in millions of shekels, and growers warn this may only be the start. The losses come just as watermelon season opens, when demand is highest for one of summer’s signature fruits.

According to Kanto, the agricultural natural-disaster insurance fund, an unusual combination of poor weather and a sharp virus outbreak has forced the destruction of fields amounting to about 10% of Israel’s total watermelon-growing area. Industry sources say the real damage may be even larger because some fields have not yet reached harvest.

The trouble began in spring. March brought heavy cloud cover and relatively low temperatures, which hurt pollination and led to especially weak yields. The first areas hit were North Beit She’an Valley and Emek HaMaayanot, the main regions for early watermelons in Israel.

A second blow followed, a particularly severe outbreak of a virus from the cucurbit family that affects watermelons and other crops. Kanto said the outbreak is five to six times above the normal annual average. The virus does not endanger consumers, but it ruins fruit quality, leaving watermelons mealy, less tasty, sometimes with white flesh or yellowish stripes, and therefore unsellable.

Damage has been reported in many farming areas, from the Jordan Valley and Lower Galilee to the south and the Gaza border region. In some cases, farmers have destroyed entire fields before harvest after inspections showed severe infection. Kanto says destroying a field can be cheaper than picking it, since harvesting alone costs about 2,000 shekels per dunam, before transport and marketing costs that may still end with the crop being rejected. The industry fears the peak of the damage has not yet arrived, since the season runs through August.