Frosts in Italy, France, and Germany have caused significant damage to the harvest of fruits and vegetables

Gardeners in Italy, France, Germany and Austria reported that recent frosts in some regions could cause harvest losses of fruits and vegetables as high as 80% - 100%, affecting the price of produce. Italy Growers in the Basilicata, Campania, Puglia and Calabria regions reported that frosts in early April damaged the harvest of vegetables, stone fruits and kiwi. “We knew that cold weather was coming, but we could not imagine that the temperature would drop to -2 ° C. The harvest of stone fruits suffered the most. Apricots of the varieties Pricia, Mogador, Flopria were completely destroyed. The fruit turned black due to the sharp rise in temperature after frost. The losses of peaches and nectarines are yet to be assessed. Kiwis, watermelons and melons were also affected. The bad weather has bypassed the strawberry plantation, ”said Franco Lillo, a representative of the Italian Fruit and Vegetable Producers Association (Arcadia AOP). Large damage was recorded in the Puglia region, in ...