Brazil: Alto Tietê farmers record losses due to frost

Friday (30) dawned cold in Mogi das Cruzes. At around 4 am, the thermometers read 1.1º C. The intense cold caused frost in the city and the farmers woke up counting the damages. In the Cocuera neighborhood, where several plantations are concentrated, some rural producers were still calculating the damages. Antonio Waragaya says the frost was very strong and he was surprised. He claims that he already had losses in the lettuce planting with the frost on July 20th. “There was a batch of lettuce that was affected and I was waiting to see if we can recover anything, but with today's frost I don't know what their future will be like”, evaluates the producer. Waragaya calculates that if he loses the 5 thousand lettuce plants in this batch, the loss could reach around R$ 6 thousand. "It's money that will be lacking for us, but as I plant weekly, I can manage it, but it will be sorely missed." He also produces cauliflower, butter kale and cabbage on the property. Mário Okuyama has been a ...