Thursday, March 28

“Even if it rains, you can no longer grow tomato plants”


It has been 17 years since José Antonio Ramos started working at the San Isidro de Villanueva de la Serena Cooperative. And he did it to be in charge of the greenhouses where the tomato plant that will become the red gold of the Vegas del Guadiana is produced. However, this campaign in the greenhouses is uncertain, couples who live outside them, due to the lack of rain.

-How does this campaign differ from those of other years?

-This year we are late because there has been no clarity about the irrigation conditions that will be in the field, and that has caused a lot of uncertainty when making decisions about how much to plant. We are seven or eight days behind what we should be, and that will mean that the seedlings also arrive in the field more than a week apart from a normal year. The forecast is that the first tomatoes will not begin to be planted until April 8 or 10, which are the seeds that were placed in the trays on February 24.

–Is the amount of seed being similar?

-There is quite a difference compared to a year in which all circumstances are normal. In a normal campaign we make around 22 million plants and, however, this year we are going to have about 16 or 18 million. Of course, we are going to do more than other greenhouses, because people have cut back a lot, as is normal.

–In case it rains enough, is there reaction power to make more plants?

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-There is no time, even if it started to rain, it is very difficult, because the time for early tomato has already passed the date. In the late tomato, more could be added, but it is not convenient because it will accumulate later for harvesting and subsequent entry into the factory. This must be foreseen in advance and there must be a more or less rigorous cultivation schedule, because it is not possible to increase production on the fly.

The forecast is that the first ones will not begin to be planted in the field until April 8 or 10

If we increase the amount of late tomato, it will then be accumulated for collection and entry into the factory

–When will the work in the greenhouses end this year?

–We are going to be making trays and germinating until the end of March, although normally we tend to stay longer, because as the seedlings come out of the greenhouse they are occupied with new trays for the later seasons. But this year that is not going to happen, because there will be enough space by producing less.

–Does this situation also affect the workforce?

–In our case, we are five people now and another two will join when the plant leaves the greenhouse because more work volume accumulates. But we don’t work with joy because we know that the sector is having a very bad time. And once this campaign is over we move to the San Isidro cooperative and connect with the cereal cooperative, the tomato entrance to load it; corn and olives will come later, and we will return to the greenhouses next year to start a new season, which we hope will be better than this one. And other colleagues also go to the fruit campaign. But I do know of many cases in which this situation of lack of water and uncertainty are having repercussions when they call to work.


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