The inhabitants of Vall de Gallinera have received a hard blow at the very start of the cherry harvest campaign. The latest rains have spoiled about 65% of the production, as water and wind have caused a lot of cracking. The most affected are the early fruits, with now only 20% of the total suitable for sale. Of the mid-season varieties, only about 50% will be saved.
The president of the Cherry Cooperative Montaña de Alicante, Vicente Sanchis, predicted that due to bad weather, this year's production will be limited to 300,000 kilos of cherries; a figure which is far from the 1.2 million kilos reached in 2016.
These are major losses that have left growers in the area desolate, since this year's production forecasts had been very optimistic. At the beginning of the campaign, some producers in the municipality had reported that "the trees had a heavy load and the cherries had a considerable size."
In addition to the loss of more than half of the production, we must also keep in mind the economic problems that this entails, with one of them deriving from the high competition on the market. According to Sanchis, the domestic market is saturated; there is not enough demand to absorb the entire production, making it necessary to resort to the international market. But due to the consequences of the storm, this will be much more complicated.
The president of the cooperative explained that, given the condition of the cherries, they wouldn't arrive in optimum conditions, which is why the buying countries are reluctant to purchase the product. The grower must also take into account the danger of leaving the damaged fruit hanging from the tree, as it ends up rotting and can cause the tree to suffer a disease, so it is essential to remove the fruit affected as soon as possible.
According to the mayor of the Vall de Gallinera, Toni Pardo, these tasks require an increase in the number of labourers. "Sometimes, the number of workers has to be tripled at the expense of the producers."
Despite the disaster of the first few days, the people in Vall de Gallinera continue working to save the campaign, looking sideways at the sky and hoping there will be no more rainfall. If the weather helps, they expect to get good results with the late cherries.
Source: lasprovincias.es
