Wind and rain have collapsed tunnels, damaged plastic covers and left many farms under water
Huelva has lost between 30 and 50 per cent of its early strawberry harvest and a significant portion of the raspberry crop due to the storms that have swept through southern Spain in recent weeks, according to berry organisation Freshuelva.
The wind and rain have collapsed tunnels, damaged plastic covers and left many farms under water. Freshuelva’s manager Rafael Dominguez said the condition of the fruit that has been harvested has been severely compromised.
Such has been the frequency and intensity of storms, that growers are having difficulty accessing farms to assess the extent of the damage. With state meteorological agency Aemet forecasting that the storms will continue until Friday, concerns are mounting that more fruit will be lost as the season advances.
Grower Antonio Soltero told Canal Sur that the much of the fruit is in such poor condition that it can’t even be used for processing.
“The worst part is that in the coming weeks and months, much more fruit will be damaged by these storms,” the association said. “For now, it will be difficult to recover all the accumulated damage and return to normal market conditions for at least 15 days, so an important campaign, such as the Valentine’s Day season, is considered lost.”
Together with the bad weather affecting parts of Morocco, significant shortages and delays on berries are expected the UK and Europe in the coming weeks.
On the plus side, it is reported that the rains have replenished water-starved reservoirs, and that Huelva now has enough water to last around four years after years of drought.
