February 24 2006, 11:59

Water-melon and melon seeds are of great demand in Crimea

According to the information provided to "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" weekly journal by Oleg Sviren, the Agronomist of Crimean office, Closed Joint enterprise "Agrimatco Ukraine", melon and water-melon seeds meet a special demand among Crimean producers. We'll remind that frosts damaged all Crimean orchards of stone fruits, partially pome fruits and vineyards. Fruit harvest will be dramatically lower than in 2005. Melon and water-melon production growth should partially compensate fruit and berry shortage. We can expect that high prices on peach, apricot, strawberry and other fruits and berries will make many consumers replace them in the summer menu by cheaper melons and water-melons.

The specialist also pointed out that, besides cucurbits crops, seeds of root beets and parsley meet the exited demand.