Yesterday, the producers, Cipolleti, Fenandez Oro, and Allen, from the province of Rio Negro, were assessing the damage caused by the hail that affected the productive segment located south of Route 22, in the Upper Valley. The producing chambers advanced that, in many cases, the loss had been severe.

Rio Negro's Secretary of Fruit Cultures, Alberto Diomedi, confirmed that they had notice that the damage, which was caused on Wednesday, had mainly affected pears. The Secretariat's Control staff has already visited some sectors and noted that, up to the moment, the Upper Valley most affected areas were Cipolletti, to the south and towards the field of Confluencia, and Allen's rural fringe to the west."It is impossible to quantify the damage today but there are marked pears. We will probably have an estimate of the damages in seven days," said Diomedi when he announced that the Secretariat of Fruit Cultures were preparing affidavit forms for the producers that had been affected by hail.

In Allen, the hailstorm caused concern among producers, which yesterday began to analyse whether there were damages. Sebastian Hernandez, president of the chamber, said some producers had reported damages in pear crops.

"Hail and water fell for some eight minutes in my field, but I know of other sectors, further west, where the storm lasted longer and the hail was drier. I think we have to wait to see if the hail caused damage, at least one or two days," said the fruit leader who met with producers yesterday to assess the situation.

"The damage on pears was total. Some fruits were hit between 14 and 15 times. Some of the red apple varieties might have survived, but the rest is all damaged," said producer Eduardo Artero, who has a farm in the area affected by hail, yesterday.Meanwhile, the Association of Producers of Fernandez Oro stated that the farms in that locality had suffered heavy losses because of the water and the hail. The president of the association said they had lost 50% of the fruits and all of the pears.

Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/