We’ve had stories recently about how the availability and even the quality of a wide variety of products – including apples, beer, wine, olive oil and truffles – are being affected by climate change.
Now we can add ketchup to the list,.
The Wall Street journal writes that “plant breeders at Bayer are testing whether tomatoes used for pizza sauces and ketchup can survive on a fraction of their traditional water needs, but still maintain taste and juiciness … Bayer’s tomatoes are one example of how the agriculture industry is now trying to stay ahead of a changing climate that could disrupt the food supply chain and drive up prices for consumers.
“Partly it is defense. Droughts and rising temperatures globally have taken a heavy toll on agriculture in recent years, and some scientists and agriculture officials expect a changing climate to make extreme weather events more common.”
The Journal reports that “in California, droughts and severe weather conditions in recent years have wrecked some of the state’s most valuable crops, such as tomatoes, almonds and alfalfa. California produces more than 90% of U.S. processing tomatoes, used for sauces and pastes.
“That is powering a race among seed companies, where executives say they are harnessing their billion-dollar research and development budgets to create hardier crops. Those efforts include less-water-intensive rice and shorter corn that can handle higher winds, as well as chemicals to battle pests that spread in warmer temperatures.”
At Kraft Heinz, the story says, “executives said conditions in California have prompted the ketchup maker to consider Washington state for growing tomatoes needed to help produce the seeds for 40% of all tomato products sold in grocery stores worldwide.”
However, “it can take companies more than a decade to develop new seed varieties, and there is no guarantee they would be enough to help farmers mitigate the effects of climate change in the long term. Developing hardier plants is one way to help farmers cope without migrating crops from one growing region to another, which would be excruciatingly difficult or impossible, industry officials say.”
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