the essentials The high temperatures of recent days, during the heat wave, have had a significant impact on market gardeners. Meeting with two of them in Saint-Jory (Haute-Garonne), north of Toulouse
Market gardening is taking the full brunt of the current heat wave. Cyril Costamagna and his sister Angélique, market gardeners in the north of the department, in Saint-Jory, suffer the consequences on a daily basis. “We are talking about a heat wave here. It changes a lot of things. During these days of high heat, we must pick up vegetables, zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, salads, cucumbers, peppers and padron at dawn. We work from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. We take a break until 4 p.m. and we resume the activity following, until late in the evening”, explain the market gardeners.
But crop management has actually become complicated all down the line. “Watering is allowed in the morning. And watering makes grass grow faster than vegetables. It is advisable to mulch the soil, to keep some of the humidity. In addition to this, at the beginning of August the diseases developed. Everything is turned upside down”, confide the two market gardeners who also fear the months to come: “Preparing the sowing of the late season is also complicated today. The high heat burns the plantations and the watering restrictions have a negative impact”.
Decline in production
Unfortunately, the long days and multiple adaptations are not the only consequences of very high temperatures. They are also already leading to a drop in vegetable production. “Heat prevents photosynthesis from developing and therefore the development of plants. It’s a shortfall for market gardeners even if prices are maintained,” explains Cyril. In addition, there are fewer consumers. Angelique noticed it at their vegetable distributor which, she says, “attracts fewer people at the moment. Honestly, it’s a complicated situation to manage for a profession that didn’t need that.
2023-08-25 09:55:10
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