A melon farmhand happily munches on a fresh Nanhui 8424 watermelon. [Photo/Shanghai Observer]

The Nanhui 8424 watermelon, a popular summer variety of the fruit for many Shanghai locals, recently hit the market again – just as the mega-city reported a decline in its daily numbers of new COVID-19 infections.

The seasonal fruit, mainly grown in Nanhui town – located in the Lin-gang Special Area of East China's Shanghai city – is renowned for its sweet and succulent taste.

Zhang Tao, a spokesman for the local Pudong agricultural association, said that in the current year the area under cultivation for the crop was about 10,000 mu (about 666.7 hectares), about the same as last year.

Zhang said that the COVID-19 epidemic hadn't affected the market for the much-fancied watermelon.

Online sales and other new sales channels had been introduced to help farmers offload their harvest.

"Retail channels such as Hema Fresh, a fresh produce supermarket, have boosted the watermelon's distribution to households across Shanghai," Zhang added.

The distributors have also reported bumper sales.

"Purchases of the watermelon this year are 40 percent higher than last year," said Zhao Jiayu, vice president of Hema Fresh.

Farmhands select ripe watermelons for sale. [Photo/Shanghai Observer]

Melon farmhands get stuck into shipping their juicy watermelons. [Photo/Shanghai Observer]