Ateneo reaches over 1 million tonnes exported

This was one of the main goals of Semillas Fitó: to keep the Ateneo variety on the podium, after nine years holding the first place, as sources from the company explain. The results from the latest campaign were positive, with over 1 million tonnes exported.
The main characteristics of Ateneo are its great consistency and its good post-harvest behaviour. According to specialist Alejandro Sánchez, added to this is the “ease for producing it in any environment and the few problems it causes commercially,” apart from the “maximum utilisation that the variety offers.” The transplanting dates for this tomato in greenhouses in the Almeria region range from the end of July to the end of August.
Meanwhile, the company has been incorporating new developments such as Albarado, a tomato from the grooved segment. This variety was introduced during the most restricting part of the pandemic and, in spite of this, Sánchez assures that it is “working very well on a commercial level and buyers are giving it very positive evaluations.”
Albarado is a tomato that has great agronomical ease, not only as a crop, but also for obtaining large productions with very high-quality fruit and a very good commercial behaviour throughout the chain of value. In addition, it has a balanced flavour between sweetness and acidity, as well as showing a considerable tolerance to high salinity conditions.
Another variety, which is becoming increasingly well-known by producers, but that could not be ‘presented in society in Almeria’ due to Covid, is Carbonero, a traditional, smooth green neck variety, which works very well commercially and is easy to grow for such an artisan segment.
Ecological aubergines and cucumbers
Fitó has always put emphasis on sustainability and ecological crops, “producing in a sustainable manner has historically been one of the company’s hobbyhorses, even back when the word sustainability was not as common, for us it was already an important value that was taken into account from the first moment of the seed’s production chain.”
In products such as aubergines and cucumbers, Fitó continues incorporating materials for ecological crops, in accordance with the generalised demand in the Almeria region for having certified seeds. According to Sánchez, the semi-long aubergine variety, Vanessa “is finding its place on the market with a very good reception.”