Production framework for Spanish industrial tomatoes

Production framework for Spanish industrial tomatoes

Spain leads tomato production in Europe, however, the increase in production costs of up to 10% and climatic uncertainties that could lead to a reduction in production per hectare are endangering a large number of farms that are looking for other more profitable crops such as woody crops.

Furthermore, the growth in imports from third countries such as Morocco explains the worrying drop in Spanish and EU tomato production that has been experienced in recent years.

At Econatur, we focus our efforts on solving the different problems we encounter in the field. Our innovation department is constantly studying the different possibilities for improvement in each crop, making use of the 3 pillars that support our company: Biostimulation, Biocontrol and Advanced Crop Nutrition.

PRODUCTIVITY INCREASE THROUGH BIOSTIMULATION:

Tomato is one of the many crops where we have focused our efforts to develop and improve our solutions. We have carried out a large number of trials where we have pursued and achieved different objectives: on the one hand, to increase production by increasing both the number of flower buds and weight, and on the other hand, by acting on the productive period of the crop, extending its duration and homogenising the fruit. At the same time, we have managed to increase sugar concentrations with our solutions, resulting in a higher quality solution that is more competitive on the market.

PEST TRIALS

Our most recent lines of research focus on crop protection through the use of basic substances registered with Sanco such as Urtica spp. extract, which has insecticidal, acaricidal and fungicidal properties.

In these trials, we have managed to control pests such as moths with the same efficiency as other chemically synthesised products, while respecting beneficial auxiliary fauna for the crop such as nesidiocoris tenuis (which is a predator of tuta absoluta whitefly and thrips).

Finally, with our technical solutions we are able to create specific strategies that result in both a qualitative and quantitative increase in production, thus being able to adapt to the increasingly stringent conditions dictated by the field.