Belgian tomato and cucumber season steady
The offer has continued to grow and should reach full potential mid/end of April with volumes reaching between 3.5 - 4 million pieces per week according to Flandria (between now and week 17).
Production should remain stable, or rise slightly, despite devolpment in above ground production concentrating mainly on other vegetables (eg peppers). Production figures vary but tend to generally show the offer developing.
The tomato season began even more gradually, starting in February with a gradual build up (the first ones were very heterogenous). However production should develop. Flandria foresees 3,000 - 3,500 t/week up until week 16 to achieve a total 5,000 or even 6,000 t/week towads the end of April.
The Production area of classic tomatoes is expected to drop slightly in Belgium, as well as vine and beef tomatoes. 2014, like 2013, will be interesting for farming ''specialities'', for which surface area is expected to reach 70 ha this year (a 30 - 40% growth compared to the previous season). This represents almost 15% of total Belgian tomato acreage. Most surface area is consecrated to: Cherrystar (14 ha), Bellino (9 ha), Ministar (8 ha), Torrito (7,3 ha), Coeur de Boeuf (7 ha).