According to Extremadura's Grouping of Agricultural Cooperatives (Acopaex), this season's tomato production will be 20% lower than the figures that were initially expected as a result of the intense heat in the month of July. The president of Acopaex, Domingo Fernandez, said that 2.1 million tons had been contracted but that they would collect 500,000 fewer tons.
After the last few years of good harvests, the production has suffered; not only in Extremadura, but also in other producing territories such as Andalusia, Portugal, or Italy. Producers are worried about this situation, especially because they won't have enough tomatoes to be profitable, as prices have been very tight for years.
The production of the current campaign will also be 20% lower than last year's production when producers obtained a similar figure than what had been contracted. "This had not happened for many years. We might sometimes produce 2, 3, or 5% less than what was contracted, but 20% less is a very large amount," Fernandez stated.
Source: hoy.es