Unexpectedly cold weather in Spain, which has brought the first snows to Madrid for 20 years, has reportedly wiped out some 90 per cent of central Spain’s winter vegetable crop, while berry growers have also suffered losses.
Spanish fresh produce association COAG (Coordinator of Agricultural Organisations) told Telemadrid that the freezing temperatures had caused the high crop losses in almost all the land in the region of Madrid dedicated to winter vegetables production.
Cabbages, including the Japanese variety that is said to be more resistant to cold weather, were particularly damaged by the freeze, said the report, while chard and cauliflower crops were also adversely affected.
In Andalusia, strawberry harvesting in the province of Huelva has been hit by the cold front, with COAG Andalusia reporting that 40 per cent of this season’s crop has fallen foul of the adverse weather.
The organisation’s Eduardo Domínguez told Diario de Cádiz that 4,000 kilos of strawberries per hectare had been lost in the freeze, with monetary losses estimated at €24,000 per hectare.
