Heavy showers of hailstones that hit Murcia yesterday afternoon (7 April) have effectively ended this year’s lettuce campaign in the Spanish region and have threatened to delay the start of melon production.
The hail has reportedly destroyed 100 per cent of the lettuce crop, whose production was in its final weeks, in the province of Cartagena, while recently planted melon and potato crops are also said to have suffered damage.
According to regional fresh produce marketing organisation Proexport, the hail principally affected producers in the districts of La Aparecida, La Palma, La Puebla, El Algar, La Unión, Santa Ana, El Albujón and La Aljorra.
Although Proexport said only four weeks remained until the end of the lettuce campaign, it said the hail and a heavy downpour of rain had effectively destroyed 100 per cent of the remaining crop in the affected zones.
The organisation said that melon crops, which have only recently been planted, had also suffered major damage from the weather as the crop had yet to be covered with protective plastic sheeting.
According to Alfonso Gálvez Caravaca, general secretary of Murcian fresh produce association Asaja Murcia, melons were one of the products most affected by the hailstones, although he said the sector was hopeful that some of the affected crop could be salvaged.
“The only alternative would be to replant them, but late melons don’t have a price in the market,” he said.
Potatoes were among other crops, also in the growth stage, reported as having been devastated by the inclement weather. In total, between 3,000ha and 4,000ha of fruit and vegetable crops were damaged by the hail, according to early estimates.
Proexport said that it would request aid from Murcia’s department of agriculture to carry out a detailed assessment of the damage with the possible aim of seeking help for affected producers.
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