Armamar, Portugal, Oct. 9, 2024 (Lusa) - Strong winds in the early hours of this Wednesday morning destroyed apple trees and tonnes of apples in the Portuguese districts of Armamar and Moimenta da Beira, in the northern Viseu region, producers in the region told the Lusa news agency.

"It happened in the early hours of the morning, between 6am and 9am, more or less. The wind was so strong that it destroyed apples and apple trees. The apples that were destroyed can't be sold. The apple trees, some were uprooted and others broke," six producers from Armamar and Moimenta da Beira told Lusa.

Aníbal Soares also said that, before 7am, "given the intensity of the wind", he went with his father to see how the orchards in Armamar were doing and "it was distressing to see the apples all lying on the ground and the apple trees falling on top of each other".

"And we couldn't do anything, watching it all from the car, because we couldn't even get out. The gale was so strong that we couldn't even open the van doors. I've never seen anything like it," he said.

José Fonseca, from the district of Armamar, said that he has "72 hectares of apple production and they're all affected".

"Those that were already picked didn't suffer damage to the fruit, but to the tree. I picked 30 % to 35% of the total production, which means I have 65% to 70% of spoilt windfall apples. As for the trees, I don't have an account yet, but I have many hectares of fallen apple trees. Some have broken and others have been uprooted,’ said José Fonseca.

Marcelino Ferreira produces in Moimenta da Beira and "on a new farm, which is now four years old, he was going for his first harvest".

"There's a loss of thousands of Euros, because the trees were all loaded and they all fell. Now we have to replant them again and wait four more years for them to produce, which means it's a huge loss, because we didn't even get to pick the fruit for the first time. It was the first time we were going to get something for what we invested in it," he lamented.

This producer said that he has already warned his customers that"it won't be possible to send apples", said Marcelino Ferreira.

João Gouveia, who produces in Armamar, told Lusa that the apple trees, "as they are bundled up, fall one after the other, the so-called domino effect, because they are secured by the wires".

"I haven't counted the damage yet, but it's a lot of hectares. My concern now is to pick up what's left to see if I can sell any and try to hold on to the apple trees that are still standing," he said.

Nuno Ramos told Lusa that "the five bardos [rows of around 100 apple trees] planted in São Gregório fell", in the district of Armamar, "all trees that were at the point of being picked".

"We've been picking apples there, but we hadn't got to the ones that fell and they were six-year-old apple trees, i.e. they were at the peak of production, and they were all loaded," he said.

Álvaro Cardoso also has produce in Moimenta da Beira and "about a week and a half ago it had already suffered some damage, due to some strong winds that knocked some apples to the ground and one or two apple trees, but nothing too alarming".

"Now, this morning, the extreme wind has blown everything away. Apples, orchards, packing frames, everything. I can't calculate the damage, I just know it's a lot and I've already warned my customers that there won't be any apples this year," he said.

All the producers told Lusa that they have insurance, "but it's worthless, because it doesn't pay anything compared to the damage" and "they can only ask for photographs, but there are still no experts on the ground to see" the damage.

"We have to go in and try to pick up what's left, to try to minimise the damage, but if the experts take days, we won't even be able to pick up what's left. If we go in, it will be a good argument for them not to pay anything," emphasised Álvaro Cardoso.

The apples that have been picked " are not good for sale, only for the industry", and some will still "think about whether it's worth it" to sell them, because "taking into account the cost of labour to pick and sort them, it probably won't pay off, because the industry pays five cents a kilo", so "one of the possibilities is for them to stay on the land, to be used as compost".

IYN/AYLS // AYLS

Lusa