Creuse fruit and vegetable producers are worried about the consequences of the severe cold snap expected at the end of the week in the department, with temperatures that can drop to -8 degrees from Friday night to Saturday. Not everyone can afford to invest in frost protection devices.
Last year, a similar episode had destroyed more than half of the crops of certain producers: arboriculturists but also market gardeners: ” I had lost almost 70% of my harvest recalls Hervé Gorse, who grows 23 varieties of apples and pears on nearly five hectares at the orchards of Grand Murat, in Bénévent L’Abbaye.
Expensive protection devices
They therefore fear the same scenario this year, when there is no cannot afford to invest in a device to fight against freezing, such as sprinkling, which consists of watering the surface to form a layer of ice that keeps the temperature close to zero degrees: ” It’s my fourth year and I’m already three episodes of freezing. I can’t afford to invest in it he explains. Some farms also use wind towers to stir and warm the ambient air around the trees, accompanied by midges.
Snow makes the operation more complex
Protective nets, or winter curtains, installed around trees can also limit the damage : “ The problem this time is that it will snow first, and if we put nets they will all have cracked explains Hervé Gorse.
The arborist will therefore mow the lawn as much as possible so that there is no cold reserve on the ground and that the heat of the ground manages to rise. We will then put smoke screens by burning haystacks so that the heat does not escape too much he explains.
If it’s down to -10 degrees as announced, we can do whatever we want, we won’t be able to save them.
This year, the flowering of the vegetation is less advanced, which limits the risks on the little open buds, but ” if it’s down to -10 degrees as announced, we can do whatever we want, we won’t be able to save them. Hopefully the weather is wrong! concludes the arborist.
Curtains on vegetable crops
As for market gardeners, not all vegetables are vulnerable to the cold, but Kylian Fontanel, who manages the farmhouse in Bridiers, near La Souterraine, preferred to take the lead: “ We are going to veil the beets, the spinach, the young carrots, the radishes. We are also going to veil the new turnips, the salads and the mesclun he explains.
The veil will turn into an ice cap
Placed directly on the vegetables, this device makes it possible to gain 2 to 4 degrees more : “ Flat, on the carrots, with their foliage, they will promote a micro-climate, and the veil will turn into an ice cap. When you remove the veil, it’s almost warm underneath » he explains.
The risk is that these summer vegetables stop developing if they remain confronted with too low temperatures ” at 3 or 4 degrees overnight, the plants will vegetate and won’t grow any bigger than you see right now. Below zero everything is dead explains Kylian Fontanel, who had already lost all his courgettes last May, due to one of these episodes of spring frost.