Tomatoes in transition: What is happening with European production?

European tomato production is entering one of its most complex periods in the last decade. The combination of climatic pressure, unstable yields, and sharply rising costs is placing the sector in a situation of deep transformation. Data from a scientific study published in Scientific Papers Series - Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and Rural Development, outline a clear trend: between 2015 and 2023, tomato production in the EU-27 has decreased by over 9% - from 17.6 to around 16 million tons, reports Fruit Journal. The king of cherry tomatoes in Romania tears down all its greenhouses It is indicative that the decline is not the result of a reduction in cultivated areas, which remain relatively stable. The main reason lies in climatic stress - increasingly frequent heatwaves, prolonged droughts, and extreme weather events that directly affect plant physiology and reduce yields. The study emphasizes that climatic anomalies are no longer isolated incidents but a ...