Supporting melon farmers in difficult conditions with new school corona through school lunch Shizuoka June 4, 13:38
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In order to support farmers who grow Shizuoka prefecture's special greenhouse greenhouse melons, which are affected by the new coronavirus, efforts to purchase melons from farmers and provide them at school lunches in elementary and junior high schools have started.
In Shizuoka Prefecture, greenhouse melons are actively produced mainly in the western part, but due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, the department stores in the Tokyo metropolitan area, which is the main market, were closed, etc. It means that
In response to this, producer groups decided to purchase crown melon, which is known as a high-end melon, which is one of the main varieties in the local area, from growers and provide it for school lunches at elementary and junior high schools in the prefecture.
First, it will be provided at elementary and junior high schools in Mori-machi in the western part of the prefecture in the middle of this month, and then it will be coordinated through the prefectural board of education to spread it throughout the prefecture.
The producers' organization says that in this initiative, it will utilize the national business as well, and "I want to survive this situation by having children taste the local special melons."
Melon farmer suffering from new corona
Akira Masuda, who has been producing greenhouse melons in Kakegawa City in the western part of Shizuoka Prefecture for about 40 years and is the general manager of the production group of crown melons, says that his income has decreased significantly over the last month.
Masuda-san's house produces 9,000 crown melons per year in greenhouse cultivation, but due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, sales from April to last month were compared to the same period last year. It means that it has decreased by about 30%.
Mr. Masuda hopes that the sales of department stores and other major sales channels will resume, and the unit price will rise at the time of the mid-year yuan sales season, but if the influence of the new coronavirus is prolonged, the recovery of demand for luxury melons It is difficult and expensive, such as fuel costs for greenhouses, and I feel that there is a danger that more stringent management may be forced.
Mr. Masuda said, “I am uncertain about the future due to my first experience, but I would like to do my best to provide delicious melons for lunch in order to survive.”