April 17 2007, 13:53

Ukraine achieved the third place in Europe as for volumes of watermelon production in 2006

To trust the data of the official statistics, Ukraine was able to occupy the third place as watermelon producer in Europe because the country built up more than twice the watermelon production in 2006. According to the data of the official statistics, watermelon production in Ukraine constituted 687 thousands of tons in 2006.

Only Russia (around 1 mln. tons) and Spain (around 700 thousands tons) grew more watermelons than Ukraine. However, to the opinion of the experts of ""Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" journal", the official data on watermelon production are underestimated 15-20% at minimum. The analysts of the periodical think that in view of the past year drought in most countries of Europe we can say with the confidence that Ukraine yielded only to Russia as for the volumes of the grown watermelons. As for the watermelon export from Ukraine, our country occupied the first place in Europe, according to the tentative estimations.

Despite of the excessive supply of watermelon on Ukrainian market in 2006, many professional producers plan to extend watermelon cultivation areas in 2007. This crop is attractive because of the low production cost and unpretentious nature. At the same time, if there are channels to export the produce to EU countries, watermelon production can become a very profitable business.