Reports in the Italian press suggest storms on an 'apocalyptic' scale have completely destroyed all of the fruit crops in a sizeable area between Mantua and Parma in northern Italy.
Among the affected products are melons, a key, premium-quality item for which the area is best known, as well as pears, grapes and other fruits.
Elio Orlandelli, owner and managing director of the Bellaguarda cooperative, said no type of fruit had emerged unscathed.
'The damage is 100 per cent,' he told the Gazzetta di Mantova. 'The wind shook the branches of the plants and made the pears fall. Then came the hail: the hailstones weren't huge, but there were so many it looked as if it had been snowing. I've lost everything.'
Open-field production of melons is also said to have been lost, with fruit rendered unsellable by the sheer force of the hail. 'It's a total disaster,' commented grower Mauro Rosa. 'Everything has to be thrown away.'
The episode also means bad news for pear producers in the region, asMantovani pears usually generate a premium in the market thanks to the protection they enjoy under the EU's PGI certification scheme.
There were also reports of devastating storms further east in the region of Veneto north-east of Venice, where around 2,000ha of crops including sweetcorn, soy and grape production were said to have fallen foul of the poor weather.
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