The tomato season in Spain is only just starting. From the beginning of October supply will increase, but it will take till November before one can speak of a large supply. This season is marked by a decrease in area of 10-15% and a greater preference for loose tomatoes.

 

Smaller area

A number of sources mention a decrease in area of about 10-15%. This decrease has two causes. On the one hand the disappointing earning capacity (especially last spring) of tomato cultivation caused by increasing expenses and decreasing crop prices. On the other hand is the uncertainty about possible damage, which may be caused by the Tuta absoluta.

Both in El Levante (by Nijar) as in El Poniente (close to El Ejido) the tomato area will decrease. It is expected that the area decrease will mainly occur at the unconnected growers supplying the auction houses. These growers change to courgettes, cucumbers or aubergines or take early retirement. Cooperatives and their growers have fixed programs, with which an important part of their production has been tied up and therefore cannot change their production quite as easily. 

 

More loose tomatoes, less tomatoes on the vine

According to Antonio Giménez, technical director of Koppert in Spain, loose tomatoes are more popular this season. In this way damage will be limited to one or a few tomatoes in case Tuta absoluta strikes. According to him there are not too many growers changing from tomatoes on the vine to loose tomatoes. Also a Dutch seed company in Almeria mentions that tomatoes on the vine are less popular, because popular variety suffered quite a lot during the cold winter months and did not perform very well in spring. Instead of this somewhat refined variety the emphasis this season is on the somewhat courser varieties.

 

The lower production costs together with a lower growth risk are reasons to choose standard varieties instead of the specialities like tomatoes on the vine, which require higher labour costs. The disappointing crop prices of the last seasons make this even more important. Of course it is still too early to be able to speak with any degree of certainty, as to what the growers will do this coming spring, but a number of seed companies mentioned that they do not expect a big demand for tomato seed next spring.

It is expected that many growers will choose a short tomato season up to December-January. After that they will change to watermelon and melon. This is caused by the rather bad result of the tomato spring crop last season and because supply from Holland, Poland and other production areas had an adverse effect on prices. Also the fear of damage by Tuta absoluta and last seasons cold weather during December and January are reasons to have only two short growing periods this season.

David del Pino, general director of Carchuna la Palma mentions, that according to various sources, less tomatoes will be produced this season in Granada  because growers will change to aubergine, courgette and cucumber. Carchuna la Parma themselves will again grow 330Ha (814 acres) of cherry tomatoes, but somewhat less of other varieties.

 

Start of season

Although it is correct that there are growers who have chosen to plant earlier, most of the growers in Almeria have, as normal, planted in August. The effect the early growers have on the supply is therefore not as big as first expected. The growers, who chose for the last weeks of June and July, were faced with extraordinary warm weather, as a result of which the fruitfulness of the first and part of the second vines was very bad. In addition prices at the beginning of September were so low, that growers themselves have tempered the growth, hoping that prices would recover. From the end of September-beginning of October supply will increase and round about November there will be a large supply. This is comparable with previous seasons.  

At the moment there is some supply of tomatoes at the cooperations and auction houses in Almeria, but most of this comes from open ground cultivation. Also tomatoes from Portugal are sold via companies in Almeria. As a result of the existing supply from Portugal and Holland growers do not intend to supply a lot of tomatoes yet, because when the supply is too large prices in Almeria up to November could be low. Prices this summer have been negatively influenced by the export of Dutch tomatoes to the Spanish supermarkets, where they were delivered at 50 cents/kg. The fact that, on the one hand there is the early cultivation (and therefore early supply) and on the other hand the fear that the supply in these weeks is too big shows that it is impossible to sketch one scenario for an area of more than 8,000Ha (19768 acres) of tomatoes in Almeria.

Murcia

Also in Murcia the area of tomatoes appears to have decreased to a total of about 2,000HA (4942 acres). Especially the decrease in production of SAT Duran is an indication of the negative tendency in the cultivation of tomatoes in Murcia. About 60% of the tomatoes grown in Murcia are suitable for export. Half of this finds its way to the Netherlands and France, from where part is sold again to other countries. The growers in Murcia will enter the market shortly, although the start of the supply has been delayed somewhat till 10-12 October. The largest supply will therefore be during December.