Cherry tomato volumes are increasing in the greenhouses of Granada and Almeria, according to Almudena Alonso, manager of the Granada-based entity Agrotropical, which works with this product all year round.
"This fall, plum cherry tomatoes have continued to gain ground on the round cherry. Due to greater consumer demand and the better average purchase price at source, our members have once again been planting more plum tomato crops," she says.
This trend has also been observed in the summer. "Seed suppliers have now developed all kinds of cherry tomatoes with resistance to ToBRFV; however, the plum cherry remains more attractive from a commercial perspective," says Almudena.
"In general terms, the summer season has not been that great for the growers in terms of prices, but costs have still been covered and profits have been made, despite some moments of oversupply and pressure from third-country crops entering the market with lower prices, which has made it harder for us to market our product."
Cherry tomatoes and Dutch cucumbers are Agrotropical's main products. In fact, these crops, for which there is a year round production, account for 80% of their members' production. "Compared to the previous year, our Dutch cucumber production has grown by more than 50%, from 2 to 3.2 million kilos, thanks to the incorporation of new members," says Almudena.
"At the moment, the cucumber season is going through a difficult period. Temperatures have been higher than they should be for the time of year, which has caused the production to arrive earlier and quicker than expected. Prices have been affected by this from mid-November onwards, dropping from 50 cents per kilo to 26 cents," says Almudena. "However, with the cold snap expected for the coming week, the forecast is that prices will improve as the harvest slows down."
"What matters most in such a long season, which starts with cucumber sowings between September 15 and October 15 and lasts until February/March, is that the average price remains good, and we still have several months ahead in which we expect a rise to make up for the situation of the last few weeks," says the manager of Agrotropical.
"Our main goal is to ensure that every season is profitable for our growers. And despite the challenges we are facing due to the impact of the weather and the competition from third countries with lower production costs, as well as the rise in our costs, this season we will continue to work to achieve maximum profitability for our members," she says.
For more information:
Agrotropical SAT
[email protected]
www.agrotropicalsat.es