Reports suggest that poor weather in Puglia, south-east Italy, have caused 'serious damage' to cherry production to the region – a key supplier to a number of European markets.
According to the country's farming association CIA, strong winds and torrential rain struck particularly hard in the areas around Bari and Lecce.
Elsewhere, estimates suggested the value of crops damage could amount to some €5m.
Cherry groves around Bari are understood to be the worst affected, with CIA estimating that around 80-90 per cent of production of the Bigarreu and Giorgia varieties – harvesting of the former began a few days ago – have been lost in Turi, Conversano, Castellana Grotte, Sammichele, Putignano, Noci and Alberobello.
However, German trade weekly Fruchthandel reported a lower figure, suggesting around 50 per cent of cherry production in south-east Puglia had been lost.
Damage to trees bearing the Ferrovia cultivar, meanwhile, which is still in the ripening phase, is estimated by the CIA to be somewhere around 40 per cent in affected areas.
The CIA has also reported damage to cherry production in Bisceglie, Ruvo di Puglia and Corato.
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