Spain’s tomato and potato production rose in 2017

Production data released by Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture reveals that the 2017 tomato harvest was slightly up on the 2016 volumes (+1.4%). “Summer” tomato  production (June- September harvest) increased by 7.1%. However, the “January-May” and “Autumn” tomatoes) registered drops in production, the former by 6.4% and the latter by 20.8%. The sharp fall in Autumn tomato production was partly due to a decrease in surface area of ​​16.2%.
Meanwhile, the 2017 potato campaign saw an increase in output of 5.4%. The mid-season potato volumes were 8.2% higher than in 2016, while the early season output rose by 18.8%. In contrast, late potato volumes fell by 3.1% and those of extra-early dropped by 8%. Acreage of potato production increased by 1.2% driven mainly by the expansion of early potato production (+8.6%) and mid-season (+3.5%), while extra-early potato acreage fell by 7.9 % and that of late by 5.4%.
As for other vegetables, production of endives rose by 18.4%, spinach by 7.1%, broccoli by 4.5% and artichoke by 1.9%. Production forecasts for other winter vegetables are still very preliminary.
In terms of fruit trees, the production is expected to increase for kiwi (4.6%) and chestnut (1.1%).