The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is from the Solanaceae family which contains over 3,000 species. It is an herbaceous plant and perennial, but if used for cultivation it has an annual duration.
Stem and leaves are rich in hairs which produce a typical and easily recognizable aroma in the countryside.
The flower is yellow (there are white or yellow-copper coloured variants). The fruit is a berry and reaches physiological maturity, ready to be harvested within 35-60 days. When ripe it is red, but not everyone knows that there are variations of yellow, orange, brown and purple and depending on the variety it could be of different shapes. Once the fruit is ripe, the sugars and acids are accumulated which give the fruit its typical taste.
Hot or warm-temperate is the ideal climate the cultivation of this plant. Temperature is a very important condition for its development; it fears the cold above all. The light intensity and quality which condition the plant’s development are just as important.
LIFE CYRCLE
Generally during the summer or autumn of the previous year or at most the same spring the land is worked by our farmers.
Today the open field grown industrial tomato is almost exclusively transplanted; in rare cases it is still sown.
The seed purchased is delivered to nurseries and after about 25-45 days of breeding in the greenhouse the plants are ready to be transplanted.
The transplants begin approximately from the first week of April until the first of June, depending on the seasonal trend.
The plants after being put in the ground, must overcome the “transplant stress” that lasts about 8-10 days. At this stage, they are very sensitive to the cold which returns the first spring weeks.
After 90-120 days from transplanting, the berries have ripened and when the crop turns a prevailing red colour they are picked and delivered to the processing industry.
FERTILIZATION AND IRRIGATION
This crop suffers from the lack or excess of water; irrigations are of strategic importance to ensure a proper and regular development of the plant. For this reason most of our members use the micro-irrigation technique (with hose), for a sustainable use of this resource
The fertilizations are treated to assist in the growth of a healthy and tasty fruit, without polluting the environment by bringing only the strictly necessary quantities provided for by the Integrated Production.
HARVEST
Tomato harvesting begins with special products such as the Cherry Tomato in mid-July and ends by the end of September depending on weather conditions. It is one of the difficult times because the product must be delivered to the industry within 24 hours of harvest to preserve all its nutritional properties.