Low yields and high costs: A year to forget for tomatoes in Italy

The 2024 processing tomato harvest campaign in Northern Italy ended in the first week of November, marking an exceptionally difficult year for the sector. With 113 total processing days, starting on July 18 and ending on November 8, the season was characterized by delays, interruptions and high industrial costs. Tomato processing slowed down due to persistent rains, which repeatedly interrupted the harvest and deliveries of raw materials. This situation led to an increase in processing costs, aggravated by reduced production that left production lines below optimal capacity. Despite the contracted price of 135-140 euros per ton, economic difficulties affected both the agricultural and industrial sectors. The 2024 production recorded very low yields, never seen before in the history of the OI Pomodoro del Nord Italia, summarizing: Despite the 41,618 ha cultivated with tomatoes (of which 4,035 ha for organic), the total production was only 2,405,967 t. This is the lowest quantity ...