Will the Price of Winter Melon Soar in 2020 and a Forecast of Its Planting Prospects

Winter melon is grown all over the country and is one of the vegetables with the highest national popularity; it can also be made into all kinds of candies, and winter melon can even be used as medicine. So what is the forecast for winter melon price trends in 2020: will the price soar? What are the planting prospects?

1. Forecast of Winter Melon Price Trends in 2020

Although winter melon is one of the common vegetables, its price has been relatively low in recent years. Because the national planting area of winter melon shrank sharply in 2015, the price of winter melon rose sharply; afterward, because farmers saw the price rise and a large number of farmers planted winter melon, the price kept falling.

The price of winter melon in 2019 was not particularly good either, with wholesale prices between 1-3 yuan. It is expected that the price of winter melon in 2020 should be little different from the changes in 2019, unless relatively major natural or man-made disasters occur. Although the price of winter melon is not high, its national popularity is very high and it stores very well, so growing winter melon is still a very good choice.

2. What Are the Planting Prospects for Winter Melon?

Winter melon is a very good storage vegetable, with low planting costs, high yields and rich nutritional content; it tolerates storage and transport, has strong heat resistance, and its flesh is white, crisp and juicy. It is a good raw material suitable for modern agricultural product processing. Winter melon is already being used more and more widely in the processing of various new foods and health products, which for a vegetable with large yields and a low price is nothing less than a good way to add value.

These values of winter melon and its very high national popularity mean that the prospects for growing winter melon are very good. If you do not know what to plant in the countryside, winter melon is a good choice.

3. What Varieties of Winter Melon Are Grown?

Winter melon varieties can be divided by fruit size into large-fruited and small-fruited varieties. By early or late maturity, there are early-maturing and late-maturing varieties. They can also be divided by the presence or absence of waxy powder on the fruit skin into powdery-skin and green-skin types, and so on.

Small-fruited winter melon: early-maturing or relatively early-maturing. The first female flower usually occurs at around the 10th node, and in a few varieties (such as Beijing Yichuanling) the female flower occurs at the 3rd-5th node. The fruit is relatively small, oblate, nearly round or oblong. The fruit is covered with waxy powder or has none. Each plant bears several fruits, and the tender fruits are eaten; fruit weight is 2-5 kg. The main varieties include Beijing Yichuanling, Sichuan Chengdu Wuyuezi, Nanjing Zao Winter Melon, and Taiwan Round Winter Melon.

Large-fruited winter melon: mid-maturing or late-maturing; the main vine generally produces the first female flower at the 15th node, and afterward one or two female flowers every 5-6 nodes. The fruit is large, generally 10-20 kg per fruit (or heavier). It is short cylindrical or long cylindrical, and the skin is green or covered with white waxy powder. Most plants have one fruit selected and retained per plant, and mainly mature fruits are harvested. Varieties include Guangdong Green-Skin Winter Melon, Gray-Skin Winter Melon, Niupi Winter Melon, Hunan Powdery-Skin Winter Melon, Longquan Winter Melon, Jiangxi Yangzizhou Winter Melon, Taiwan Green-Shell Large Winter Melon, White-Shell Large Winter Melon, Sichuan Large Winter Melon, Shanghai White-Skin Winter Melon, Beijing Ground Winter Melon, and so on.