Due to high soil temperatures: Historically early start of the asparagus harvest in Austria

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The reason is the relatively high soil temperature, which means that the plants have recently found ideal growing conditions, as the chairman of the Chamber of Agriculture (LKÖ), Josef Moosbrugger, explained to the APA. A higher harvest volume is also expected this year. If the weather remains stable and warm, the Austrian asparagus will be in supermarkets at the beginning of April and therefore earlier than before, says Moosbrugger.

In Austria, asparagus is mainly grown in Marchfeld in Lower Austria. However, the approximately 760 hectares of agricultural land now extends as far as Vorarlberg. In Austria, 127 companies produce green or purple asparagus, while 82 companies will soon harvest white asparagus. The cultivated area has changed only slightly from the previous year, but this year the harvest volume is likely to be higher. In 2023, the harvest yielded almost 2,300 tons of asparagus.

However, companies are concerned about additional labor costs, as the LKÖ president noted. “Domestic vegetable farms have suffered from high indirect labor costs for years, leading to enormous competitive distortions compared to neighboring countries.” Inflation has made the situation even worse.

(SDA)

Source: Blick