Frosts have caused severe losses to growers, particularly to artichoke, broccoli and lettuce crops in the Guadalentin Valley.In the rest of the Region of Murcia, the anti-frost systems used by producers managed to offset the sharp drop in temperatures, minimising damage in Cieza, where the thermometer registered five degrees below zero, and the Altiplano.

In Lorca and the Guadalentin Valley, temperatures reached -4 degrees Celsius. The cold affected mainly artichokes and broccoli, although the extent of the impact will not be known for a few more days, according to the regional president of Coag, Miguel Padilla. "The artichokes that survived the frosts that took place in December have been damaged," he assured.

Padilla added that "broccoli could not be harvested because they are frozen, and it will still take a few days to know what the impact has been on the pellet," he said. Lettuce, according to Padilla, could also have been affected in their outermost layers and "it will be necessary to remove a leaf or two." The areas most affected by frost have been those of Campillo, Torrecilla and Aguaderas.

"Temperatures were extreme in these areas at dawn yesterday," Padilla added, "because of the lack of wind, which subsided after a few days of gales, with virtually no clouds in the sky." In the Altiplano, however, no damage to crops has been registered as a result of low temperatures.

In any case, the president of Coag in Jumilla, Pedro Lencina, does not rule out the possibility that frost could eventually cause some impact, especially on the planting period. In Cehegín, growers replaced the plastics that had been blown away by the wind in the flower greenhouses and reported no frost damage.

Source - http://www.freshplaza.com