The production cycles of greenhouse vegetables are becoming shorter and yields are decreasing as a consequence of the increasingly limited availability of active substances to tackle the spreading and proliferation of pests. The high vegetable prices this season are making up for this situation.
"The last two cucumber seasons have been exceptional in terms of prices. Even though there have been times of overproduction peaks, prices have not fallen to the levels of five years ago and they have been doing especially well after the Christmas period," says Fulgencio Spa, manager of the production and marketing company Fulgencio Spa S.L., located in the municipality of Carchuna, Granada, which mainly produces Dutch type cucumbers and cherry tomatoes.
Fulgencio Spa and Mª Ángeles Esquines, at the Fulgencio Spa stand at Fruit Logistica 2025
"Good prices are making up for the production imbalances, with lower yields and gaps in the production due to the tendency for cycles to shorten. Although the weather has a certain impact, the main cause is the uncontrollable advance of pests and the proliferation of new diseases due to the increasing restrictions on the use of tools to combat them," says the grower and exporter.
Fulgencio says that between 2006 and 2010, with the application of integrated pest control, the use of many active materials was reduced and, therefore, the presence of residues fell by between 10 and 30%. "However, in the last six years, many materials that were used as a complement to integrated pest control have been banned, making it very difficult to combat pests. This has undoubtedly had a significant impact on costs and led to a reduction of the yields."
"With tomato and cucumber, we were able to plan winter cycles of around 6 months, but now the production starts to decline after 4 months. I believe that this is a structural problem, not a cyclical one, and we are going to have to adapt to this by planning shorter cycles from now on in order to be able to maintain our volumes and quality," says Fulgencio Spa.
As far as the current cherry tomato and cucumber season is concerned, Fulgencio says that it is going well. "Yields are falling and we are expecting high prices in February and March. In the meantime, we are already getting the spring crops ready. It will be important for prices to remain stable so that the activity can continue to be profitable."
At the moment, there are already cucumbers in the Netherlands, but we'll need to wait at least until the end of March for volumes to be significant enough to have an impact on the markets. With cherry tomatoes, however, the Dutch have managed to produce all year round and have some annual supply lines in Europe. Fortunately, cherry tomato consumption continues to grow every year and there is also still a wide range of formats, colors, and specialties," says Fulgencio Spa.
For more information:
Fulgencio Spa
Fulgencio Spa S.L.
Avda. de las Palmeras,9
Carchuna-Motril, Granada. Spain
Tel.: +34 958623136
fulgencio@fsagro.com
www.fsagro.com