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Tomato : Extremadura beats production record
Spain
Sunday 23 September 2007
Extremadura will beat its production record for the current tomato campaign. So far harvesting in this Spanish autonomous region has reached 80% of the volumes agreed with the industry sector last February. According to Unexca (Union of agricultural cooperatives of Extremadura) 1,293,835 tons have been "reserved" by regional industries, of which 1,035,000 have been already harvested.
Average performance per hectare is something less than expected, around 65,000 or even 75,000 Kg of tomatoes per hectare according to provisional measurement.
A 20% of late tomatoes haven’t been harvested yet. This kind of tomatoes can suffer from climate conditions and, if not harvested, could affect final expected production and average performance.
Anyway Unexca values the current tomato campaign as good both for performance and product quality.
Agriculture and Rural Development councillor of Extremadura, Juan María Vázquez, highlighted the effort made by this sector during recent years to automate the process of harvesting and tomato processing. “Processing has reached 100 per cent, this can give an idea of the huge transformation experimented in the fields of Extremadura”, stated Vázquez.
Extremadura maintains its leadership regarding tomato cultivated area and output.
Data of the regional agricultural ministry shows that 85% of Spanish tomatoes are produced and processed in Extremadura in eight factories, four of which are cooperatives and the others belong to the private sector.
The tomato campaign will probably end by the last week of this month and the first week of October. But what producers are more worried about is the rain season as it could hinder harvest work and activities of processing industries.
Average performance per hectare is something less than expected, around 65,000 or even 75,000 Kg of tomatoes per hectare according to provisional measurement.
A 20% of late tomatoes haven’t been harvested yet. This kind of tomatoes can suffer from climate conditions and, if not harvested, could affect final expected production and average performance.
Anyway Unexca values the current tomato campaign as good both for performance and product quality.
Agriculture and Rural Development councillor of Extremadura, Juan María Vázquez, highlighted the effort made by this sector during recent years to automate the process of harvesting and tomato processing. “Processing has reached 100 per cent, this can give an idea of the huge transformation experimented in the fields of Extremadura”, stated Vázquez.
Extremadura maintains its leadership regarding tomato cultivated area and output.
Data of the regional agricultural ministry shows that 85% of Spanish tomatoes are produced and processed in Extremadura in eight factories, four of which are cooperatives and the others belong to the private sector.
The tomato campaign will probably end by the last week of this month and the first week of October. But what producers are more worried about is the rain season as it could hinder harvest work and activities of processing industries.
