Fruit and wine growers call attention to frost damage

100% damage in some areas

The Maribor Agriculture and Forestry Office and the Maribor Biotechnical School have organised an event called the Day of Fruit and Wine Growers. The producers have once again highlighted this year’s catastrophic frost, which affected 41,000 hectares of plantations and tillage, 6,000 hectares more than a year before.

Fruit farming has suffered the greatest losses. A half of apple tree orchards are damaged, with produce loss ranging from 30 to 100 percent, estimated Miran Naglič from the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia.

A number of comprehensive measures have been introduced to alleviate the damage. Farmers will be able to borrow affordable loans, purchase missing quantities of grapes and fruit, and about 6 million euros will probably be reserved for financial aid to affected farms.

Intervention act, which will enable these measures, is being coordinated between governmental departments. Naglič hope it would be passed as soon as possible. Prevention measures are also being prepared to assure long-term security of food production. To help with frost losses, additional co-funding of irrigation and bedewing systems will be offered. These are efficient measures against frost, explains Andrej Soršak from the Maribor Agriculture and Forestry Office.

Insurance companies have also promised to step in and help the farmers, reporting that additional benefits are being planned and that fruit and wine producers will receive first payments of insurance fees in the coming days.

A. M. (RA SLO); translated by K. Z.