The general secretary of the Israel's Association of Vegetable Growers has called on the country's government to find a way to compensate vegetable growers for losses sustained during a recent heatwave.
Meir Yifrach said damage caused by the adverse conditions were in the 'tens of millions' of shekels (Shk10m = €2.05m) and, since such damage was not covered by crop insurance, the financial damage to farmers was 'extremely high'.
The Israel Meteorological Service confirmed this week what we many in the country's fresh produce already suspected: that August 2010 was the hottest on record.
Official figures indicated that temperatures last month exceeded the highest previously recorded by an average of 3-5°C, news which will come as no surprise to those who struggled to cope with a combination of heat and unusually high humidity towards the end of the school holidays.
The high temperatures reportedly caused great damage to Israeli horticultural crops, with growers of watermelons, cucumbers, melons, tomatoes and herbs – both protected and in open field – suffering losses from which they say it will be difficult to recover.
In protected structures such as plastic-covered greenhouses, temperatures were apparently higher than those in the open field and reached over 50°C with 70 per cent humidity in some areas.
Mr Yifrach called on the Ministries of Agriculture and Finance to declare a natural disaster and to find the right framework through which the growers could be compensated.
In addition to damage sustained by ongoing crops, there is concern also for the immediate future of the country's tomato plants, in which setting has almost been eliminated because of the heat.
In the meantime, while a solution is sought, growers have been asked to document and photo the existing damage to their various crops.
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