According to the president of the Brazilian Association of Apple Producers, Pierre Nicolas Péres, it is too soon to estimate how much of the harvest will be lost due to unusual weather conditions for this time of the year, but damages in fruit can easily be seen.
Péres says that lower orchards are the most affected. "It should still take us a few days to evaluate the damage, but they will have a negative effect on the apple harvest," he explained.
He said that in 26 years of activity in the apple sector, the orchards in Santa Catarina presented this year the second most beautiful flowering. "We expected a really good season, but now bad years are coming. This frost really caught us off guard," he said.
Finally, the leader mentioned that Santa Catarina's apple producers have been experiencing difficulties, accumulating almost R$ 600 million in debt.