WTRF (Archive) - June 23, 2022
by, Corrine Hackathorn
California farmers are doing everything they can to protect their tomato plants from the heat and drought that scientists believe is due to climate change.
According to National Geographic, many farmers only just planted their crop of tomatoes, and the heat wave isn’t exactly helping them.
Tomato plants begin as spikey yellow flowers but in the case of a heat wave many flowers will wither on the vine and fall off, producing no tomatoes.
But that’s not the only issue farmers are facing.
As climate change intensifies, drought has left farmers short on water.
Daniel Hartwig, resource manager at Woolf Farms says, “We’ve got the soil and it’s the right climate to do everything that we need. We just need water and without water, it just doesn’t work.” reported abc6.
With California in its third year of statewide drought growers are concerned about the availability of water.
Scientists are also worried about warming winters that are allowing pests and diseases to move farther north into new tomato territory, national geographic reports.
President of the California Tomato Growers Association, Mike Montna says, “Usually we’re dealing with one problem at a time but now it feels like we’re all dealing with a lot all at once,” reported national geographic.
According to abc6, researchers predict a 6% decline in tomato production by 2050, but between 2050 and 2100 the global tomato harvest could be cut in half.
by, Corrine Hackathorn
California farmers are doing everything they can to protect their tomato plants from the heat and drought that scientists believe is due to climate change.
According to National Geographic, many farmers only just planted their crop of tomatoes, and the heat wave isn’t exactly helping them.
Tomato plants begin as spikey yellow flowers but in the case of a heat wave many flowers will wither on the vine and fall off, producing no tomatoes.
But that’s not the only issue farmers are facing.
As climate change intensifies, drought has left farmers short on water.
Daniel Hartwig, resource manager at Woolf Farms says, “We’ve got the soil and it’s the right climate to do everything that we need. We just need water and without water, it just doesn’t work.” reported abc6.
With California in its third year of statewide drought growers are concerned about the availability of water.
Scientists are also worried about warming winters that are allowing pests and diseases to move farther north into new tomato territory, national geographic reports.
President of the California Tomato Growers Association, Mike Montna says, “Usually we’re dealing with one problem at a time but now it feels like we’re all dealing with a lot all at once,” reported national geographic.
According to abc6, researchers predict a 6% decline in tomato production by 2050, but between 2050 and 2100 the global tomato harvest could be cut in half.
like tomatoes are impossible to grow at scale anywhere in the US or the world except California, so if it becomes too difficult to do so there tomato production is forever fucked
not the heccin ketchup!
