As several European countries are bracing themselves for continued food supply chain disruption, the Italian tomato harvest offers a glimmer of hope in an otherwise gloomy harvest season. Global food prices have hit the highest level in over a decade after rising by more than 30% in the last year, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently announced.
Food inflation is being stoked by environmental impacts on farming and labor shortages, which push up the cost of production and transportation of food. However, in Italy, due to good weather and the dedication of the harvest workers, the tomato harvest has been successful.
The Tomato News Crop Update reads: “Overall, it is a very good season, only limited by the availability of packaging. The season has been good and the forecast in the region has increased to 2.9 million tons, meaning the estimate for Italy is now 5.9 million tons.”
The final 2021 Italian tomato production rates are higher than earlier estimates largely due to a very good season in the north, where production reached 3.09 million tons, more than the volumes of the contracts, which has never happened before. The average farm yield from the 38,621 hectares planted was just over 80 t/ha with an average Brix rating of 4.88. The second half of the crop was particularly good.
Source: einnews.com