The apple produced in the municipality of Armamar will have a smaller caliber this year due to the drought and high temperatures, the president of the local association of fruit growers, José Osório, told Lusa on Friday.
Not only it does not rainLike the temperatures are too high and will affect the indicators. With less caliber, the production is lessthere are fewer tons,” he stressed.
According to the director of the Armamar Fruit Growers Association, in a normal year, only this municipality in the north of the Viseu district produces “80 to 90 thousand tons of apples”.
This year is able to go to 60 thousand. minus about 25%”, he estimated, noting that “frost still affected flowering a little” in some areas.
José Osório explained that, although there were “some nights with some humidity, the apple does not have the development that was supposed have in this period.
The Royal Gala variety, “one more week, is ready to be harvested”, leaving the rest for “three weeks or a month”, depending on the humidity that is registered.
Three weeks or a month after the Royal Gala harvest, the rest of the varieties begin: Reineta, Golden and, later, Bravo de Esmolfe, which is the last to be harvested,” he adds.
The president of the Armamar Fruit Growers Association considered that, if it rained at the beginning of September, “it would improve the calibers a little, it would still help”.
Known as the Capital of the Mountain Apple, the municipality of Armamar is one of the largest national producers of this fruit, which represents an important source of income for the population.
AFA develops its action in Armamar and in the neighboring municipalities of Moimenta da Beira, Tarouca and Lamego (in the district of Viseu), marketing its production both on the national and international markets.
THE Prolonged drought on the continent is affecting crops, led to cuts in water use and forced villages to be supplied with automatic tanks.
From October 2021 to August it rained almost half as much as normalaccording to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA).
The IPMA placed at the end of July 55.2% of the continent in a situation of severe drought and 44.8% in a situation of extreme drought. There was not no mainland locations that were in normal conditionor in mild drought or even in moderate drought.
Source: Observadora
