The economic losses in agriculture caused by frosts last Wednesday amounted to 45 million Euro, as reported by the Council of Agriculture, Water and Environment of Murcia, with data collected by the District Agricultural Office (OCA). Cieza is the most affected municipality, with a loss totalling 37.7 million Euro, while Jumilla has estimated the losses at 3 million Euro and Caravaca at 1.1 million Euro. The most affected crops are almonds, with 7,225 hectares; peaches, with 1,986 hectares; nectarines, with 1,289 hectares, and citrus fruit, with 823 hectares. Lettuce and artichokes have also been hit.

The Secretary General of the Council, Javier Falcón, and the General Directors of Productions and Agricultural Markets, Fulgencio Pérez, and of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Carmen Teodora Morales, held a meeting with the heads of agricultural organizations to assess the situation. The improvement of agricultural insurances was one of the topics discussed. There is also the issue of the jobs lost in the thinning, harvesting and processing of fruit.

Rafael Giménez is one of many producers in Cieza who lost their entire production as a result of the frost. Of the thirty labourers in his farm, he suddenly had to lay off twenty.

The regional head of the Union of Small Farmers (UPA), Antonio Moreno, already warned that the frost has left "thousands of families without any work."

Source - freshplaza.com