“For the moment, fruits and vegetables are rather spared”assured Monday June 6 on franceinfo Daniel Sauvaitre, president of the National Association Apples-pears (ANPP) producer of apples in Reignac (Charente), secretary general of the interprofession of fresh fruits and vegetables, after the violent storms which have affected several regions this weekend causing significant damage to crops. “It’s dramatic for those who have these hailstorms”, recognizes Daniel Sauvaitre. He points out that in arboriculture, “anti-hail nets” limit the damage. According to him, consumers should not “worry” about the fruits of this summer. But he admits “a real concern” in the face of drought.
>> IN PICTURES. Hail, lightning, threatening clouds, destroyed crops… France hit by violent storms
franceinfo: Have you ever been able to quantify the damage to fruits and vegetables?
Daniel Sauvaitre: For the moment, fruits and vegetables are rather spared. We mainly have arable crops, vineyards have been affected. I know of a few orchards that have been affected. It’s dramatic for those who have these hailstorms which are really destructive. But to date, it is not the orchard that has suffered the most.
In which region have the storms been the most destructive?
It is the Dordogne. On the Bergerac side, there are very violent storms which have caused a lot of damage. In arboriculture, as hail damage has been known for a long time, we have a fairly large area of the orchard that is covered with anti-hail nets. When the hail is really too strong, we can have tearing of nets or the nets which can be at the limit of what they can do. But we have an orchard which is quite well protected by the nets. And when it’s not through the net, it’s through insurance. But insurance is still a second best. This can compensate for part of the losses, but never the fact that we have no fruit to sell. And this often has an impact on the following year as well.
Will there be repercussions on fruit prices and availability this summer?
I don’t want to go too far because it’s all still very fresh. There are vineyards that have been very severely affected in large areas. But as far as market gardening and arboriculture are concerned, to date, I don’t really have any information that would make me say that the harvest potential has been damaged. But where I am cautious is that the apple harvest will take place in September, October or November. It’s the same for pears. Episodes of hail which, in less than 5 minutes, bring down a harvest, this can happen at any time, until the last moment when the fruit is picked. We are used to fearing what falls from the sky. This is our daily lot as arborist.
“But to this day, I cannot tell consumers that they can worry about the availability of fruits and vegetables.”
Daniel Sauvaitre, President of the National Apple-Pear Association (ANPP)at franceinfo
There, it’s spectacular because there is considerable damage and the people who are under these hailstorms are in tears so much we can find ourselves in winter with vegetation all on the ground. But it is often localized. This does not reflect the overall situation in the country.
Is drought also a threat?
There, we are much more worried. We protect ourselves against drought by irrigating. One cannot be an arborist or market gardener without irrigating. And for that, you need water. The big controversy of the day is to say do we put water aside when there is too much winter to have when we miss summer. And as with global warming we need more water, since there is more evaporation, we should be able to put a little more water aside. Our fear, when we have a drought that starts so early, is to say to ourselves, will we have enough water given the quotas allocated to us to be able to hold out until the harvest. There, there is a real concern about our ability to produce and compensate for this water which does not fall from the sky.