Hail storms, heavy rain and high winds have hit parts of Belgium.
The storms hit during during the evening of 18 August, damaging apple and pear crops and even uprooting trees.
Marc Evrard, managing director of Belgium’s biggest fruit co-op Belgische Fruitveiling, said it was still too early to determine precise damage.
Tony Derwael of producer-exporter Bel’Export calculates that about 20 per cent of Belgium’s orchards were affected by the storm and some 10 per cent of the top-fruit crop has been lost.
Derwael told FPJ: “We have calculated that some 3,000 hectares have been hit. There are about 8,500ha under production of pears and 7,500ha under apples.
“Those people that are in the western central regions where the storms hit are not picking anymore, not even for processing.”
He added: “It is not only the fruit which has been completely lost, some trees have been lost too, which will have an impact on future crops.”
Some 80 per cent of pear production is Conference and a similar percentage of apple production is Jonagold.
“This will hit volumes for export as well as for the domestic market,” said Derwael. “We estimate that there will be about 300,000 tonnes of the 350,000t crop left.”
The Belgian pear crop was estimated by others to be running some three weeks ahead thanks to favourable weather earlier in the season. “For some growers, they have lost their entire crop,” Derwael warned.
