Melon production in the Azuero region of Panama has been affected by rainfall that has fallen unseasonably early at the end of the growers’ campaign.

The rains were unseasonable and caught many growers off guard. “This disrupted all our forecasts,” meteorologist Aristides Lorless told the Panamanian press. Growers were not expecting the rainy season to start until between May10 and May 15.

“Rains at this time of year cause damage because of the stage of development that the fruit is at,” said Jorge Igualada of Gantrap, the Panamanian non-traditional agricultural exporters trade association. Gantrap estimated that a considerable percentage of the 1,000ha under production in the Azuero peninsula had been affected: between 10 and 20 per cent. The UK is the leading market for Panaman Galia, Honeydew and watermelon after the US.

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