Northern Italy: reduction in planted surfaces for processing tomatoes

23/07/2018

2018 Season

Press release

OI Pomodoro da Industria Nord Italia

Italy,

AMITOM

Rabboni: "In line with market requirements"

Surfaces dedicated to growing processing tomatoes this year in northern Italy have been reduced. Total surfaces amounted to 35 099 hectares, which is 4.4% less than in 2017 and 5% less than initial contracts for the season. However, the surfaces planted with organic crops remain stable, amounting to 2 365 hectares (55 hectares more than last year), or 6.8% of the total.
At a time when the first shipments of tomatoes are being delivered to processing plants, local operators estimate that on the basis of an average yield of 69.08 metric tonnes per hectare (average value over the past five seasons (2013-2017)), total production in 2018 should amount to approximately 2.4 million mT of tomatoes for processing, a sharp drop compared to last year.

Territorial distribution of surfaces

Emilia Romagna is the main production region, with 24 140 hectares of processing tomatoes, followed by Lombardy (7 307), Piedmont (2 049) and Veneto (1 406). The province of Piacenza features the largest proportion of surfaces, ahead of Ferrara, Parma, Mantua, Cremona, Ravena, Alessandria, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Verona and Rovigo. A few other provinces have planted very small surfaces.

According to the President of the Pomodoro IO, Tiberio Rabboni, "The probability of a drop in the production of processing tomatoes looks more likely, in order to adapt to current market requirements. The goal of the industry in northern Italy remains to reach a correct valuation for a sustainable high-quality crop. In order to do this, we will use the best tools at our disposal, including the obligation of place of origin labeling. We will also evaluate the opportunities provided by the "Made Green in Italy" program, which is being promoted by the Ministry of the Environment, and that we intend to use to encourage sustainable production models and in particular the reduction of the environmental impact of these models throughout their life-cycle.”