Israel’s watermelon-growing sector is suffering unusually severe damage this year, already estimated at millions of shekels, following a difficult combination of two simultaneous natural factors: exceptional cloud cover and unseasonal cold in March that severely harmed pollination and led to a sharp drop in yields, alongside a cucurbit virus outbreak that spread at significantly above-average levels and is infecting fields across the country.
According to data from KANAT, the Insurance Fund for Natural Risks in Agriculture, more than 1,000 dunams (about 247 acres) of watermelon crops have so far been approved for destruction—about 10% of Israel’s total watermelon-growing area. The industry is facing an unusual convergence of two major disruptions: weather-related yield failures and a severe virus outbreak for which there are limited means of control.
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