The cost of gas is now four times the long-term average for tomato growers, he states, and energy is typically 30 per cent of the cost of producing plants.
The industry is calling on the Government to urgently reinstate the Horticultural Exceptional Payment Scheme which provided one-off payments last year of €2.8 million for horticultural growers to subsidise the cost of energy following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He stated that the process of producing tomatoes in an Irish environment under glass with natural gas is environmentally friendly because the plants absorb the carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.
Matt Wallace, the managing director of Wexford Tomatoes, said many Dutch growers are struggling with nursery plants because of the costs and this is having a knock on effect.
But then they'll 'ketchup' 🤭