Spanish melon growers destroy crops

Melon growers in the Spanish region of Murcia are destroying 30 per cent of their crop.

The drastic measure is in order to try and lift prices, which have slumped well below the cost of the production.

With only a few more weeks of their season to run, growers have been earning an average of just €0.14 (£0.12) a kilo.

Growers’ association COAG called a meeting where producers decided unanimously to destroy some 30 per cent of their remaining crops - an estimated 40,000 tonnes. Producers are eliminating one in every three rows of the fruit in their fields in order to achieve this.