EastFruit experts draw attention to the consequences of Storm Bernard, which last weekend caused quite significant damage to the production regions of Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. The assessment of damage to berry plantations is currently ongoing, but preliminary results have been announced, and they turned out to be disappointing for local farmers.
Storm Bernard brought heavy rains and strong winds. In addition, in some regions, strong winds were also accompanied by a sandstorm at speeds reaching 100 kilometers per hour! This led to significant damage to the greenhouses where early berry crops were grown such as raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries. Moreover, in addition to damage to greenhouses, cases of plants being uprooted were also reported.
Currently, in the berry producing regions of Morocco, the loss of raspberry plantations is estimated at 15-20%. Blueberry and strawberry plantations also suffered significant damage, but local associations have not yet announced exact estimates of the level of damage. It is only reported that berry crops on an area of about 9 thousand hectares were damaged.
In Spain, in the province of Huelva, according to local producers, serious damage was caused to 2 thousand hectares of raspberries since these plants are quite fragile. Blackberry fields suffered similar losses, although the area of this crop is much smaller. Damage was also significant for early blueberry plantations, while mid- and late-season blueberry plantations were less affected because the crop’s bushes are more robust than those of raspberries and development of later blueberry varieties was not very advanced yet. As for strawberries, the damage here turned out to be minimal, since the greenhouses where this crop is grown were not yet covered with film, and the planting of seedlings was just beginning.
Read also: Morocco earthquake: damage too early to assess
Local associations note that in the current season the area under raspberries in Spain has been quite significantly reduced, since in the previous two seasons producers faced problems selling this berry at a high enough price. Here, of course, the rapid expansion of Ukraine into the global raspberry market made a significant contribution to the price decline. Therefore, prices for raspberries in the current season were already higher than in previous seasons.
“Blueberry prices in Europe, the USA and other countries of the world are currently at record highs, which is caused by a sharp decline in the blueberry harvest in Peru due to high temperatures during the flowering of the plantations. Accordingly, even before the storms in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, we expected that, at least at the beginning of the sales season for local blueberries in Europe, prices would be significantly higher than last year. Now, taking into account the news about the consequences of the storm, we can expect an even more significant increase in prices for this berry, and, of course, for early raspberries,” says Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
“By the way, the price forecast for early strawberries also looks quite positive. After all, in addition to expensive raspberries and blueberries, there is also the factor of a sharp increase in the price of apples and even bananas. Accordingly, there are no longer any cheap alternatives for consumers on the market,” adds Andriy Yarmak.
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