Due to climate change, garlic cultivation could grow in Switzerland

In the first week of June, the Swiss farming company Huber started harvesting garlic for the third year. According to crop manager Hermann Huber, persistently high temperatures favor bulb growth, unlike many other vegetable crops. "Garlic does well in the heat, so the crop is doing particularly well. The quality is also significantly better than last year."
The family business mainly grows and markets fresh garlic, which is available between June and August. "Garlic needs to have a good shelf life so that once dried; it can be marketed later in the fall and winter. That's still difficult at the moment, so we bring much of the crop to market fresh." The fresh garlic is sold to wholesalers at the central supply market in the city of Zurich.

Handling of fresh garlic. The main activity of the Swiss company is the cultivation and handling of carrots.
High production costs
According to Huber, garlic requires a lot of labor, not so much in cultivation but handling. "With the current additional costs, the production is too expensive to be profitable. In addition, Swiss garlic, of course, cannot compete with the imported product in terms of prices, so we more or less depending on our clients' goodwill."
Unlike other vegetable crops, the net income from garlic is difficult to predict. "For our three hectares, it is difficult to calculate in advance what the volume of marketable merchandise will be," says Huber, who, in addition to garlic, also has sweet potatoes as a special crop in his wide assortment of products.
However, Huber sees growth opportunities for the Swiss garlic crop. "Certainly, there is potential for expansion, especially due to the trend towards higher temperatures. Although we do not grow it in organic farming, I see good sales opportunities in this market segment, especially because the second category products are sold very well. In this area".

Due to climate change, garlic cultivation could grow in Switzerland PDF