Coldiretti Puglia has announced that strong winds and hailstorms created many problems in the region. It is still raining and temperatures are dropping. Damage is currently being assessed.
"It rains a lot, temperatures are low and there is a hailstorm every once in a while. Cherry orchards have been damaged and things are not looking good," explains one of the operators.
"It is still not over, and the products most at risk are cherries, potatoes, peas and courgettes, but some vineyards have also been affected."
"We should have started harvesting potatoes after Easter. Now we have to wait for the soil to dry up, and there may be some problems in the areas affected by hailstorms. The advantages created by the fact that crops were early have been now cancelled."
"The north as well as the south of the region has been affected. After a terrible campaign, the weather is now complicating things too! Luckily, in our area there were no strong hailstorms, but potato crops have been damaged a little anyway," says another producer.
"Cherry orchards in the Bari province were particularly affected, so much so that 40% of Bigarreaux orchards were destroyed. The problem is that many families depend on cherry production, so they are now not able to make a profit or even break even," explains Gianni Cantele, Chairman of Coldiretti Puglia.
Strong winds and flooded fields have been recorded also in the Taranto and Foggia provinces, where citrus groves, vineyards and asparagus beds have been particularly affected.
"The continuous temperature changes do not help. In just a few hours we pass from extreme bad weather to a lovely spring day. All the positive effects of the good weather that we had had in the past few weeks have been swept away," concludes Angelo Corsetti, director of Coldiretti Puglia.
"The continuous temperature changes do not help. In just a few hours we pass from extreme bad weather to a lovely spring day. All the positive effects of the good weather that we had had in the past few weeks have been swept away," concludes Angelo Corsetti, director of Coldiretti Puglia.