The Spanish Rosa de Barbastro tomato campaign ended with a yield of two million kilos. That is 1 million less than the initial forecast of the season. The decrease affected small producers who faced various challenges. The season ended earlier than expected and was "saved," in figures, by the increase of up to 14 hectares of production in the greenhouses of Grupo Correas, a company that chose this tomato in 2018. Specifically, the company produced 1.8 million kilos of tomatoes in its greenhouses on the Burceat road.
Óscar Olivera, president of the Hortelanos de Barbastro association, said the season had been really weak for small-scale growers. "Forecasts were they would produce 600,000 kilos, but that was not achieved. Production was lower than in 2022, which was also lower than in 2021. There have been many problems, especially due to the application of phytosanitary regulations, which have a bigger impact on small-scale growers than large producers."
"In addition, production costs were very high, and the decrease was noticeable, even though the Grupo Correas increased its production because of its increase in the number of hectares."
"The problems started with the fairly high temperatures there were in spring and the fear of a possible drought and its negative effects on the crops hanging over us."
"We had no issues or damage to plantations derived from spring frosts, but in July, the pest pressure increased due to the heatwave that was very harmful to the plants."
"Anyway, every year is different, and I don't think we'll face these same issues next year. We hope we have a cold winter because the ice will kill the insects. Then we will start from scratch again next year. A warm winter would be very bad."
According to José Antonio Armengol, it was a good campaign. "We achieved our goals with a yield of 1,800,000 kilos, 1,300,000 kilos were of Rosa tomatoes and the rest were hybrids. We had 6 hectares more than last year, and of course, that helped us. Despite the ups and downs in the campaign, we are satisfied with the results. We've already uprooted all the tomato plants in our greenhouses and are cleaning and preparing the soil for next February."
"The campaign in Terra Agronomica's greenhouses was very good, in terms of quality. In addition, all the product was sold according to the group's market policy." In the past fifteen years (2009-2023) the Somontano has produced 18,800,000 million kilos.
Source: diariodelaltoaragon.es