La Unió Llauradora reports that last Saturday's hailstorms affected 12,363 hectares of crops in the provinces of Valencia and Castellón, with initial losses estimated at 7.6 million euros.
The most affected regions in the province of Valencia are Utiel-Requena, La Serranía, Camp de Túria, and Camp de Morvedre. In the province of Castellón, the impacted areas are the Plana Baixa and Alto Palancia. The affected zones produce a variety of agricultural products, including cereals, almonds, olives, citrus fruits, and grapes. The hail impacted 7,664 hectares of grapes, 2,270 hectares of almonds, 1,144 hectares of olives, 825 hectares of cereals, and 460 hectares of citrus.
The region of Utiel-Requena was the most affected as the storm affected more than 10,500 hectares and caused losses of almost 7 million euros. The most affected municipalities are: Camporrobles, Sinarcas, Requena, Utiel, Venta del Moro, and Caudete de las Fuentes.
The second most affected region was La Serranía with 640 hectares affected and 429,000 euros in losses. It was followed by Alto Palancia, with 505 hectares and 354,000 euros; Camp de Túria, with 390 hectares and 338,000 euros; Plana Baixa, with 251 hectares and 448,000 euros; and Camp de Morvedre, with 54 hectares and 87,000 euros in losses.
Fortunately, in the Plana Baixa region of Castellón, fewer hectares were affected than initially feared. However, citrus trees suffered serious damage because of the hail and wind gusts of up to 51 km/h. The trees are in the middle of budding, and the combination of rain and wind has caused branches and leaves to fall and soil to be washed away. The hailstorm coincided with the natural process in which the tree discards the first fruit shoots, so there could be a significant decrease in the future harvest. Some of the young leaf buds are also on the ground.
The current agricultural insurance system is supposed to cover these adverse weather events, but La Unió is concerned about the possible lack of cover for citrus due to the timing of the incident. "It's possible that the trees will have discarded their first shoots when the plots are appraised. Thus, producers will be unable to demonstrate the damages. That's why we demand they are appraised immediately," the agricultural organization stated.
Many local councils are applying for their municipalities to be declared catastrophic areas, La Unió added. The organization proposes that, once the municipalities request it, the Council of Ministers declare the affected areas severely impacted by a civil protection emergency (formerly a catastrophic area).
For more information:
Carles Peris
La Unió
Tel.: +34 658 92 89 23
Email: [email protected]
https://launio.org