Ten-minute hailstorm presses pause on citrus harvest across a large part of Argolida, Greece

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Citrus groves in Argolida, one of the most important citrus-growing belts in Greece, were hit by a short but extremely severe hailstorm on Monday, November 10. Mr. Giorgos Stavropoulos, a merchant whose packing house is located in Koutsopodi, the epicenter of the hailstorm, stresses: “Ten minutes of hail were enough to devastate the crop across tens of hectares and press pause on the harvest process. Hail fell in Koutsopodi, Fixtia, Mycenae, Monastiraki, Panorama, and other neighboring citrus villages. So far, it seems that the damage reaches up to 60% in farms located at the epicenter of the hailstorm.”

The local packer says that the harvest halt will last for about a week in all these places, since packers are afraid of receiving fruit that may turn out to be damaged during storage: “The hail left almost only Elliniko, Kefalari, and Skafidaki intact. These are the only areas where harvesting is still going on. In all the other areas, there is no harvest right now, and there won’t be for a week. The Packers are afraid of receiving fruit from the hail-hit areas because of the reduced endurance these fruits may have. Hail can decrease storage capacity by as much as 5 to 6 days.”

© Fotis Karabetsos | FreshPlaza.com

“Clementines that did not fall to the ground have already started to show signs of decay, while in Navelines, black spots are starting to appear. All in all, after a few days, we may see the damage increase to 70% or even 80% at the geographic epicenter of the hailstorm. There are also damaged fruits of the later orange variety, Merlin, as well as of the later Nova mandarins, although in the latter case, problems seem to be fewer thanks to the harder skin of this variety,” Mr. Stavropoulos adds.

“As for prices, I think they will drop when the harvest resumes in the hail-hit areas, as packers will be very reluctant to buy the remaining fruit. Up to now, grower prices for product on truck have stood at about €0,70/kg for Clementines and €0,40/kg for Navelines. Next week, we will also learn what prices will be paid for the discarded Navelines that will be absorbed by the juice industry. Last week, Valencia juice oranges were bought at €0,25/kg,” Mr. Stavropoulos concludes.

For more information:
Giorgos Stavropoulos
Stavropoulos Georgios X
Tel: +30 27510 92045
Mob: +30 6948 053324

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Source: The Plantations International Agroforestry Group of Companies