Brazilian Melon Exports Continue Despite Record Rainfall, Lessons Learned by Agricola Famosa

In what is being described as an exceptionally rainy season in many parts of Brazil, with regions experiencing up to 1,000 mm of rainfall since January, the heavy downpours have not deterred the melon exports from Agricola Famosa.

Carlo Porro, the CEO of Agricola Famosa, highlighted that the North of Brazil encountered a significant amount of rain, reaching a record-breaking 1,000 mm. Despite facing substantial losses in melon production due to the relentless rain, the company managed to continue harvesting and exporting.

Porro mentioned that the heavy rainfall had caused substantial losses in their melon production, especially from January onwards when the rain seemed incessant. Despite the challenges, the harvesting and exporting activities at Agricola Famosa persisted.

«It was not just the volume of rainfall that posed problems, although it was substantial. It was the persistent daily rain that became the issue. Typically, our region experiences sunny intervals between showers, but this time it rained incessantly,» stated Porro.

He added, «We observed farms that suffered production losses ranging from 20% to 35%, while some watermelon farms even reported losses as high as 30%. The unceasing rains commenced early this year, starting from January. Each day brought heavy downpours, which significantly slowed down our production processes. Nonetheless, we were still able to export substantial volumes.»

Despite the losses incurred from January onwards, when the rain seemed never-ending, Agricola Famosa quickly adapted to the situation to ensure a continuous supply. As the largest melon and watermelon grower and exporter in Brazil, the company guarantees a 12-month supply of melons to Europe.

Carlo Porro further explained, «Our losses began in January and continued through February, primarily affecting watermelon crops planted in farms with heavy soils. However, all our production from sandy soils was successfully harvested, showing reasonable productivity levels which was a significant success for us. Despite the unprecedented rainfall, we are managing to ship 100 to 120 containers to Europe weekly.»

Porro shared insights on the company’s strategic measures to safeguard future production, stating, «We are expanding our land holdings on sandy soils to enhance our production security. By acquiring more land in sandy soils, we aim to plant earlier in these areas to mitigate risks associated with unpredictable weather patterns.»

He highlighted, «Our proactive approach has proved beneficial as we continue to ship throughout the Central American season. We are assessing the productivity we achieved under challenging conditions and remain hopeful that such extreme rainfall will not become a regular occurrence. By adjusting our practices, we aim to ensure consistent production during the Central American supply season.»

The CEO expressed relief that the North of Brazil was spared the devastating floods that recently impacted the South of the country, particularly in Rio Grande do Sul, where 78 lives were lost due to a hydropower plant dam breach.