According to data on the agricultural acreage affected by the dry weather, provided by Agroseguros, it is estimated that the total figure will rise to more than 980,000 hectares. To date, 643,000 hectares have been damaged, with Castile-Leon and Castile-La Mancha as the most affected autonomous regions, with 376,000 and 109,000 hectares damaged, respectively.
According to the agro-insurance company, and based on the data available on June 24, the acreage affected and the total expected in the various autonomous regions is as follows: Andalusia 32,658 ha (37,920), Aragón 35,738 ha (60,379), Castile-Leon 376,117 ha (585,019), Castile-La Mancha 108,684 ha (182,455), Catalonia 10,760 ha (12,500), Navarre 17,614 ha (28,325) and the rest 61,651 ha (75,995).
Murcia accounts for 65% of the fruit tree acreage affected by hail and frost
Agroseguro has already advanced a first payment of more than 15.5 million Euro for the losses recorded in fruit crops. In total, the Association estimates it will pay 100 million Euro in compensations, mainly for hail storms, which account for more than half of the damages.
Also worth mentioning are the losses caused by frost and lack of fruit setting, with damages worth over 40 million Euro. In total, almost 34,000 hectares of fruit have been destroyed by non-controllable factors, representing one third of the total contracted.
By autonomous regions, the Region of Murcia, with 65% of the total area affected, will receive to 44 million Euro in compensations, while Extremadura, with more than 50% of the insured area affected, will get almost 30 million.
Also underway is the payment of more than 2.3 million Euro as compensation for the damages caused by the wind storms of the month of February in the banana plantations of the Canary Islands.
Source: lavanguardia.com