Press release
, François-Xavier Branthôme
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The "unusual" weather conditions have accelerated and concentrated the ripening of the raw material. Deliveries and processing rhythms are very high, and the excellent planning made it possible to limit production losses.
All the POs (Producer Organizations) and the processing companies of the Northern Italy area recently met to discuss the situation of the tomato season, starting from the analysis of the data processed by the Interprofessional Organization OI Pomodoro da Industria Northern Italy regarding the harvest - which takes place in a fully mechanized way - of industrial tomatoes.
As of August 16 (latest update available) the deliveries of the OPs to companies are already at 38.23% of the total contracted quantity and are proceeding again this week at a very intense pace, characterized by an above average Brix degree, with a value of 4.99.
The 2020 tomato campaign began in the best possible way with a correct planning of the surfaces and planting times, as defined in the “Contratto Quadro Area Nord”, according to the agreements between producers and processors, in response to the needs of the markets. The situation then became complicated due to the climatic trend which led to the persistence of high temperatures, starting from July 26, with tomato facing extreme conditions in the fields, which caused the simultaneous ripening of the fruits whose harvest was scheduled for the next three weeks.
Actual surfaces divided by province in Northern Italy; other provinces follow with much lower surfaces.
The contemporaneity of ripening has generated a huge demand for tomato delivery by farmers, to which the processing companies are responding with plants pushed to the maximum of production capacity and with record daily processed quantities, so much so that the quantity of about 400,000 tonnes delivered was reached in the week ending 15 August, a never recorded level before in the Northern Italy area.
There are limited production losses, for areas that cannot be harvested due to the concentration of ripening, and for these the Producer Organizations are trying to activate extraordinary interventions, as part of their operational programs of the CMO Ortofrutta, to support the single damaged company.
However, the correct planning of planting is limiting these losses and the climatic conditions of the next few weeks will determine whether it will be possible to limit the damage.
Source: OI Pomodoro Nord Italy
