Rains, lack of sun - producers were not spared by the weather, and they are experiencing a drop in production. With a harvest of 45,000 tons of conventional tomatoes, the Lot-et-Garonne sector has seen a 10% drop compared to 2020. As for organic tomatoes, only 3,000 tons were harvested instead of the 10,000 tons expected.
“The season is not over for us just yet, so we are waiting impatiently for the tomatoes still in the field to be ready for harvesting,” explains Stéphane Durand, director of the fruit and vegetable branch of Terres du Sud.
The bad weather in the summer impacted the Marmande tomato crops grown in open fields, especially the ones intended for processing (diced, concentrate, juice, sauce). On top of that, the humidity of the summer increased the appearance of mildew.
On the other hand, the fresh Marmande tomato (under covers) has met the expectations of the sector with 1,000 tons marketed at the end of October 2021, compared to 800 tons harvested in 2020 (25% increase).
Source: sudouest.fr