Andalusia’s fresh produce interprofessional Hortyfruta has praised the region’s melon and watermelon producers in maintaining quality during the 2014 season by not harvesting fruit before it is fully ripe.
The association runs an annual campaign in conjunction with Andalusia’s regional government urging producers not to harvest their melons and watermelons until they have achieved the required brix level. This year’s campaign featured the slogan ‘Inmaduros, no’, featuring pictures of melons with dummies, which roughly translated means ‘No to immature fruit’.
Hortyfruta’s president Francisco Góngora said he was very satisfied with the results of the campaign. He praised the “excellent work of growers and marketers in achieving a high quality product, demonstrating once again that Andalusian fruits and vegetables exceeded quality standards.”
Hortyfruta said it had carried out 202 control visits to 65 melon marketers, taking more than 3,100 samples equivalent to 2,400 tonnes of watermelons and 730 tonnes of melons. None of the samples failed the minimum requirements on brix, firmness and coloration.
According to the regional authorities, the area planted with watermelons in Andalusia increased by 300ha to 6,700ha
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