Watermelon prices soar above MVR 30 amid supply shortage

The price of watermelon – considered a staple during Ramadan – has begun to rise after remaining steady during the first weeks of the holy month.

A vendor at the traveler’s market in Male’, Ahmed Habeeb told Sun on Saturday that a kilo of watermelon is now priced MVR 30 – rising from MVR 20 at the beginning of Ramadan.

Habeeb said that watermelons have become hard to get, with the product no longer available from main suppliers such as AA. Thoddoo.

Vendors expect the price of watermelon to continue to rise, and warn that the market may even run out of watermelons altogether.

This marks the first time for the price of watermelon to rise since the start of Ramadan, said Habeeb.

Kelaa Ahmed, another vendor at the traveler’s market, also spoke of a slowdown in supply of watermelon from the atolls to the capital.

He said that there is also a lag in the arrival of shipments of watermelon from available suppliers.

Vegetable and fruit sellers are reporting a steep decline in their revenue this Ramadan, with vendors who usually earn MVR 30,000 daily earning as low as MVR 4,000.

Aishath Junaidha, a councilwoman and farmer from Thoddoo, said that the island’s farmers haven’t been earning much this Ramadan. She also said that farms sustained heavy damages in the recent spell of bad weather.

Thoddoo is an island famous for its watermelons. It also grows chilis and other produce.