Spain: Extremadura’s tomato campaign to start on 25 July

The tomato harvest in the Spanish province of Badajoz will start approximately on July 25, which is one week earlier than in the 2018 season. According to Domingo Fernández, the president of Acopaex (Association of Agricultural Cooperatives of Extremadura), this early start is due both to an early planting in the spring and the forecast of high temperatures in July. However, Mr Fernandez said that this start date is usually the most usual, as the harvest last year started with a few days late because of the rains of spring.
 
 The harvest in the approximately 25,000 hectares that have been cultivated should have a normal development, so the production volumes are expected to be normal or even slightly greater than usual, as long as no storms are recorded in the coming weeks. These forecasts point to a production yield of about 90 metric tonne (mT) per hectare. In terms of prices, the sector will get around 75 Euro per mT. This price, which is similar to last year's, is already set in contracts signed in February.

Meanwhile, Acopaex added that the lower tomato production from countries such as China, Italy or the United States has led to a decline in the stock of Extremadura tomatoes in recent weeks. In the case of the Asian giant, it is mainly a decision based on prices, while in Italy and the United States it is fundamentally due to the weather conditions. Extremadura's production is exported mainly to Germany, France and the United Kingdom, as well as to various South American markets.

See the latest 2019 production / processing forecast for the AMITOM and WPTC countries on the link below.

Source: Efe / hoy.es, freshplaza