2.4 Million Tonnes Processed. Low Yields and High Costs
The 2024 processing tomato campaign in Northern Italy concluded during the first week of November. The entire harvesting and processing months lasted an impressive 113 days, with the first plant opening on July 18th and the last closing on November 8th. This extended harvest period was disrupted by multiple plant closures and restarts due to intermittent rainfall, which delayed tomato deliveries and increased industrial costs as many plants operated below full capacity.
Agricultural yields were notably low, with an average of 57.8 tonnes per hectare—well below the five-year average of 74.3 tons. Integrated production yielded 58.6 tonnes per hectare (down from 75.9), while organic production was at 50.3 tonnes per hectare (compared to 60.2). These were the lowest yields ever recorded by OI Pomodoro del Nord Italia. Despite 41,618 hectares of land being dedicated to tomato cultivation, only 2.4 million tonnes of tomatoes were delivered to processing plants.
The low yields were largely attributed to unusual weather conditions in 2024, including heavy rainfall during critical periods like May (for transplanting) and September and October (during harvest). These conditions also led to phytosanitary problems, which required costly interventions from farmers in both integrated and organic production.
A survey conducted by OI Pomodoro da Industria del Nord Italia among the Producer Organizations in mid-October found that around 850 hectares of tomatoes were left unharvested in the Northern regions. This was due to the inability to enter with machinery in the fields to harvest, compounded by flooded fields. OI Pomodoro da Industria Nord Italia asked the relevant authorities for more support to overcome this challenging situation, especially for farmers and processors to be prepared for the investments required for 2025.
