Swiss asparagus is back, and right on time with the season starting this week and continuing until the 24th June.
Be they white, green or purple, they all come from the same plant. The difference is in the farming technique. Green asparagus grows above ground and owes it’s colour to the sunlight, whilst white asparagus develops under ground and remains white.
Green asparagus acreage has increased from 50 to 175 hectares and white asparagus from 25 to 125 hectares between 1990 and 2014. Green asparagus productivity has increased from 125 to 500 tons and white asparagus from 25 to 375 tons per year.
Over 180 farmers have turned to asparagus farming, however almost 95% of asparagus consumed in Switzerland is imported.
Harvest is limited to a short time period so as to maintain the plants quality for the next year. Harvesting, sorting, packaging and washing is all time consuming. In total, green asparagus farming takes 1,000 hours work per hectare per year, with a yield of 2-4 tons per hectares. Almost half an hour of labour for one kilo of asparagus. White asparagus is even more demanding as their tips must be dug up by hand before cutting the vegetable with a special knife.