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Cherry producers, exporters and marketers in several parts of Italy are counting the cost of poor weather conditions over the weekend, which resulted in production being hit from Friday until Sunday by a sustained bombardment of severe precipitation including more than 130mm of rain, as well as hail and high winds.

The adverse conditions, which are understood to have struck Emilia-Romagna hardest, have reportedly hit open-field production of cherries, as well as strawberries, worst of all. According to Italiafruit News, the episode will likely result in “significant economic losses”.

Cherry crops without protection that were ready for harvesting in the region around Cesena, in Emilia-Romagna, have been almost completely ruined, with varieties worst affected by cracking said to include Brooks, Giant Red, Roket, Frisco and the trademarked cultivars Sweet Early and Early Star.

In Puglia, in the south, some cherry production was also hit badly by a sudden and violent hailstorm that apparently left a 10cm covering of hailstones on the ground, although the damage was limited to specific areas.

Nicola Giuliano of exporter Giuliano Puglia Fruit told Italiafruit: “In all, about 40-50ha have been affected, which is only around 2-3 per cent of the production around Bari.

“But the hailstorm was very strong and, where it struck, it destroyed 100 per cent of the production of that variety, from Bigarreux and Giorgia to Ferrovia.”

Overall, it has been a bad week for Italian cherry producerts. At the beginning of last week, hail struck cherry trees near Verona, causing widespread damage in the areas of Tregnano and Mezzane.