More misfortune has been heaped on the citrus sector in Valencia as persistent rainfall at the end of last week prevented harvesting before giving way to hail storms on February 7 and 8.
The result has been that 4,000 hectares of citrus have suffered further damage on top of that brought by the frost and snow in the last days of January and early February.
Separate hail storms, overnight and in the afternoon in the north and south of the Valencia region on Monday and Tuesday, affected more than half of the fruit remaining to be harvested of Valencia Late, Navel Late and Ortanique in many orchards. Some trees were so badly damaged that they have been almost completely defoliated.
Producers’ association Ava-Asaja warned further effects of the hail could yet come to light. “So far the hail damage has been lessened because the storms were accompanied by a lot of rain,” said a spokeswoman for the association.
“But it could be even worse if it continues to rain: because the fruit has suffered the impact of hail it could now suffer the effects of fungal disease because of high humidity.”
The association describes the season as a “disaster” for growers because of unprofitably low prices in the early season and climatic devastation in the latter part. “Prices will inevitably go up in the marketplace, but this is because our offer is drastically reduced,” she said.
“We are trying to raise awareness of the plight of the sector this season with a demonstration on March 5. It is not just growers who this has an impact on: the knock-on effects touch the regional economy and the whole chain of supply.”
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