The wide temperature range and very low temperatures at night during flowering caused a drop of up to 70% in the production of cherries from Fundão, according to producers, who nevertheless expect a higher quality fruit and higher caliber.

Gonçalo Batista, an agronomist engineer from Alcongosta, with orchards in several locations in the municipality of Fundão, mostly south of Serra da Gardunha, says he has a decrease in production, compared to a normal year. This decrease is “in the order of 60% to 70%”, due to frosts on consecutive days in early April in that municipality in the district of Castelo Branco.

In the case of Frutas Quinta da Fadagosa, with about 18 hectares of cherries, the later varieties are the most affected, for they were in the final stage of flowering when there were days of heat and nightly temperatures around zero degrees Celsius.

“The cold causes physiological disturbance in the flowers. The flower cannot withstand such low temperatures. Moreover, on consecutive days, and the cold could not have ended up causing the loss of production if we had mild nights. Even with high temperatures for the season, these could have had no influence, “said Gonçalo Batista, speaking to the Lusa agency.

Besides the losses already noted, which will also affect the Portugal peach, the agronomist engineer explained there are varieties that thrive, but then the trees do not have consistency to support the fruit, worsening the damage.

“If a plant feels comfortable in terms of water, after the stress, it prefers to preserve the plant part rather than the offspring part, which are the fruits”, explained Gonçalo Batista, who mentioned that he has plots where he doesn’t intend to do the harvest, for “not compensating the expenses with labor.”

Filipe Costa, manager of the fruit growers association, Cerfundão, with an installed capacity to market about a thousand tons of cherries in a normal year, spread over 300 hectares, points to a drop in production “of 50% to 60% in Fundão and Cova da Beira”.

“The varieties that were flowering in these periods of temperature amplitudes, with very low temperatures at night and high during the day, made weaker setting and have a lower productivity,” stressed the agricultural engineer and producer, who estimates a greater fall, in general, “in intermediate and late varieties.”

If in Gonçalo Batista-with most orchards south of Gardunha-where production is usually two weeks ahead of schedule, has already started this year’s campaign, at Cerfundão the forecast for the beginning of the harvest is early next week, “depending on the evolution of temperatures”.

Filipe Costa anticipates “a very good year in terms of tasty quality of the fruit.”

“It is expected that the size of the fruit will be larger and the sugar level of the fruit also, because we have the trees with less load,” he predicted to Lusa news agency.

Gonçalo Batista, from Frutas Quinta da Fadagosa, is “absolutely sure that the potential size will be higher”, although “in terms of brix”, the sugar in the fruit, and texture, the content “is still an unknown, because we are in a very early stage”, although, “normally, when the trees are lighter, everything indicates that the quality will be higher.

The manager of Cerfundão, Filipe Costa, expects “unit valuation of the cherry”, so that the price balances the “substantial increases” in energy costs, including fertilizers and various factors that impact on production.

“It is important for the sustainability of the industry itself that the fruit is properly remunerated, but this depends on the market and the law of supply and demand,” he emphasized.

Source: Agroportal.pt