The area planted with melons will have to increase by more than 50% to meet demand

The state of Ceará, in the northeast of Brazil, is one of the most important producers of melons in the country. To meet demand, both internal and external, it is necessary to increase the areas.

 

 

 

With the recent opening of the Chinese market, melon producers will have access to a market of 1.4 billion people, more than 6 times the Brazilian population. According to Abrafrutas (Associação Brasileira dos Produtores Exportadores de Frutas e Derivados) Brazil plants 20,000 hectares of melons per year, of which 10,000 are for domestic consumption and 10,000 for export.

 

 

 

China, for its consumption alone, plants 430,000 hectares in summer, 40 times more than Brazil. If Brazil manages to conquer 10% of the Chinese market, 40,000 hectares are needed, or twice as much as what is currently planted in Brazil.

 

 

 

Sílvio Carlos Ribeiro, of the Secretariat for Economic Development and Work of Ceará, estimates that the state of Ceará can, by 2021, increase the area planted with melons by more than 50%, which will generate even more jobs in the food industry.