Produção e comercialização da melancia em Eldorado, Mato Grosso do Sul

This paper aims to understand how the watermelon production and commercializa-tion process occurs in the city of Eldorado/MS, from the producers’ perspective. We made a qualitative and descriptive research through in-depth semi-structured interviews with four local producers. As results, we identified the production and commercialization difficulties faced, the high risk of the crop, the lack of spe-cialized professionals and the lack of incentive through the public sectors. We conclude that there is a need for public policies to encourage producers to remain in the activity, which earned the city the title of Water-melon Capital. The social contribution of the research consists of drawing the attention of public bodies to smaller crops and in small cities that have the potential to keep families on their properties and can generate income for local development.