Corbins was one of the municipalities in the Spanish province of Lleida affected by last week's hailstorm. The town, in the north of the Segrià region, recorded damage to various degrees, as the storm had lost some of its intensity. "In towns further to the southwest, such as Alcarrás, where it began, the hailstorm was heavy and caused up to 100% damage to crops. As it passed through Balaguer, the hail was already smaller, and in Corbins, the damage was limited to just a few locations. Some plots were not hit by hail, while others were. Ours were unfortunately hit," says the company Cireres de Corbins, a stone fruit producer specializing in cherries.
"Hail has hit many cherry plots; however, apricots and plums are the most affected. In fact, some farms have been devastated," says Josep Antonio Camats Carpi. "You must bear in mind that cherries grow in bunches, so the fruit that is furthest inside the bunch is protected by the fruit in the outer layers, but in other stone fruit trees, the fruit is more exposed."
Cireres de Corbins, who has already filled in the Agroeguro report, is currently awaiting an appraisal from the insurance company's technicians; however, like many other producers in Lleida, they had only been able to insure 50% of their crops and were hoping to extend the cover to the other 50% in the last few days of April, when the risk of frost had already passed.
"We specialize in cherries, and since our season takes place mainly in May and June, two months in which there is generally no hail, which tends to occur more towards July and August, we didn't have anti-hail nets in place," he says. "Now we are just waiting for the damage to be assessed, and we are hoping not to have any other meteorological problems in the 20 days that remain until the harvest begins. Due to this year's circumstances, we are also hoping that the market won't reject the bruised fruit that we've managed to save, because quality and flavor will still be excellent, as always."
For more information:
Cireres de Corbins
Tel.: +34 676 190 105
[email protected]
www.cireresdecorbinscamatscarpi.com/