United States might be heading for a ketchup crisis

Published 2022년 9월 15일

Tridge summary

Climate change is expected to decrease the production of tomatoes, particularly in the United States, China, and Italy, the world's three largest producers. The article highlights California, which grows 90% of the nation's processing tomatoes, as being significantly impacted by rising temperatures. These high temperatures affect the plant's flower development into fruit and increase irrigation challenges amidst water shortages. Additionally, increasing production costs such as water, fuel, and fertilizer are leading to higher retail prices for processed tomato products, with sauce and ketchup prices experiencing notable increases.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Americans consume upward of 30 pounds of tomatoes a year, three-quarters of that in processed form. While the commercially produced fresh fruit varieties are mostly grown in heavily controlled environments, away from the elements, climate change is looking like it will be a big issue for processing tomatoes. Tomatoes are especially susceptible to climate change: according to a study published in Nature Food, by 2050, production in the United States (California produces 90 percent of the nation’s processing tomatoes), China, and Italy, which are the world’s three biggest tomato producers, could drop by 6 percent. California is a big tomato producer, but the state is getting hotter, with temperatures reaching upward of 95 degrees in spring and summer in areas that grow tomatoes, such as the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys. In extremely high temperatures, a lower percentage of flowers on a tomato plant will develop into fruit, said Tom Turini, a University of California farm ...

Source: Hortidaily