In 2012, Russia continues to be the main destination outside the EU for the Spanish exports of fruit and vegetables. In February, shipments grew 50% regarding the same months of 2011, adding up to 47,362 tons.
A group of entrepreneurs began to reconstruct the canning factory in Volgograd region. The plant will produce purees, eggs, sauces, jams, pickled vegetables and salads
Russian Union of Juice Producers informed that in 2011 juices that are produced in Russia occupy 98% of the market, at the same time the consumption of juices increased.
Thanks to fertile land, tomato cultivation has continued for many years in the town and its villages. Every year, beginning in July, the tomatoes collected
by women and children villagers are transported to the markets. This year, the farmers are cheering up due to rainfall and selling each tomato crate for 3 Turkish Liras. A proportion of the tomatoes are transformed into tomato paste by farmers in their own houses, while some tomatoes that cannot be sold in markets are left to decay. The women in Kadirasker village of the town reserve a part of the tomatoes for tomato paste making. After the cleaning stage, the tomatoes are crushed and drained. When the filtering operation finishes, the tomatoes are bagged and stored for awhile. In the last stage, the tomatoes are kept under the sun for their transformation into tomato paste. However, the women say tomato paste making is hard and exhaustive and if a plant is established, their efforts and productivity would increase. “Tomato cultivation, which has been going on for a hundred years, is our main source of income,” said Ergül Eruysal, a farmer from the town. “Due to the problem of irrigation and the absence of a tomato paste factory, we cannot get the income we need.” Mehmet Aydoğdu, another farmer, said that because of the lack of a tomato processing plant, surplus tomatoes are left to decay. The tomatoes cultivated under organic conditions are high quality and delicious, according Nihat Çelik, chairman of the Erciş Chamber of Agriculture. He said that throughout Erciş, around 9,000 tons of tomatoes are grown in 4,000 decares of land annually. However, the yield does not provide enough income for the farmers and some of them are at loss, he added. The farmers are under-pricing their products in the markets, and they cannot use them in any other way, said Çelik. “We could not provide the opportunity to convert tomatoes to paste at plants. I am calling out for businesspeople to be aware of the situation. If a factory is established, there will be the possibility to generate some byproducts such as paste, canned goods and pickling.”
