The planting season of autumn and winter greenhouse vegetables has been underway over the past few days in Tympaki, the earliest vegetable-growing region in Crete. The general manager of the local cooperative AC Tympaki, Mr. Manolis Mperkakis, says: "The current planting cycle began on August 10 and will last almost until the end of the month. The hectares remain about the same as last season. However, there are some notable internal changes. Apart from cucumbers, which remain a very popular crop among our growers, there is an increase in early tomatoes at the expense of Florina peppers (red, sweet, and long peppers)."
© AC Tympaki
As Mr. Mperkakis describes, this change reflects a broader shift towards a different seasonal planning strategy: "Florina peppers, despite being quite a profitable crop, constitute a year-long one. That means you plant it once now and keep it until May. However, we see that our growers prefer two different early crops in sequence rather than a single one for the whole year. So, they swap out part of the Florina peppers with early tomatoes — the first of which will enter the markets in late August — and later these same tomato plantings will be replaced by other early crops, such as melons. This strategy secures them a higher income."
"Another crop that will be produced in smaller volumes this season, as part of the same strategy, is the October tomato. However, November will mark the start of the peak season for our vegetable harvest," Mr. Mperkakis emphasizes.
© AC Tympaki
As for current vegetable sales, it seems that the tourist season and the demand from hoteliers and restaurants were not enough to keep prices consistently at high levels. "The vegetable passing in the highest volumes through our cooperative premises these days is summer cucumbers. Growers have opted for extended cultivation of summer cucumbers due to the high prices they secured last season for this product, and also because it keeps workers in our area until the new autumn vegetables begin. However, there were quite a few days with low prices, €0.20/kg. These past few days, as exports began again, prices have risen to €0.80/kg," the general manager of AC Tympaki concludes.
For more information:
Manolis Mperkakis
AC Tympaki
Tel: +30 289 205 1254
Email: [email protected]
https://ast.opast.gr/