Heavy rainfall and hail in the prime Italian fruit-growing area of Romagna has damaged peaches, nectarines and kiwifruit as well as the trees and vines that produce them.
Large quantities of rain fell in a very short time on May 10 and were accompanied by hail over a 10,000 ha area in Ravenna and Forlì.
“Although these 10,000ha represent only five per cent of farmland in Romagna, they are the most important fruit-growing part of the region,” said a spokesman for the Emilia-Romagna regional office of Italian fresh produce association Coldiretti. “The main lines that were affected are kiwifruit, peaches and nectarines, they accounted for about 6,000ha of the 10,000ha. Many growers in the region have lost more than 50 per cent of their peach and nectarine crops and some have lost 100 per cent.”
The spokesman said it was too early to assess damage more accurately but that the damage will have “a commercial effect”.
Pear, plum and apple orchards were also struck by the storm and such large quantities of rain fell that there is real concern that trees will sustain long-term damage as rainwater has inundated plantations and is effectively suffocating roots.
“It is not just a question of losing this season’s fruit,” said a spokesman at Coldiretti’s national office, “but also of the trees themselves dying.”
Romagna grows roughly 50 per cent of the national peach and nectarine crop.
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