After a bad season in 2023, artichoke production is on the rise again this year in the Pyrénées-Orientales. The rains of the last few days have been good.
The artichoke harvest is currently in full swing in Salanque, in the Pyrénées-Orientales. After long days of tramontane, the rains of recent days have been good.
Lucas Jumelle Sanchez is a farmer in Torreilles, near Perpignan. He explains : “the wind tends to dry out the plant, the foliage is a little less green, less beautiful, and the artichoke tends to open and produce flowers. The rain we had at the beginning of the week has closed the flower heads, and we had well-closed, compact and dense artichokes.”
We have artichokes that are more beautiful, more easily sold and more interesting for the consumer.
Lucas Jumelle Sanchez, farmer
Although the recent rains were almost the first since planting, production did not suffer too much from the drought. On the ten or so hectares of artichokes that he farms for the Melba cooperative, Lucas Jumelle Sanchez is rather satisfied.
More beautiful artichokes, more interesting for the consumer.
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© France 3 Occitanie
“Last year, we had half as many yields, the year was catastrophic, deplores the artichoke producer. There we find normal yields, so it’s quite an interesting season.”
It was a late frost that caused yields to drop last year. A drop so significant that many market gardeners preferred to reduce their plantings this year.
“We have never experienced such a drop,” says Gaël Lichou, market gardening advisor at the Pyrénées-Orientales Chamber of Agriculture. In the department, the area under artichoke cultivation has decreased by a third this year, compared to 2023. In market gardening, the particularity is that when we have a bad season, producers can decide to stop or switch to other crops. They chose to switch to celery stalks, or other crops that cost less and take less time to produce. he explains.
The artichoke season will end in two or three weeks in Salanque, when it should start in Brittany. The ideal calendar for Catalan market gardeners.
Written with Philippe Georget.
