In pieces because the information is still confusing, little by little the scene of devastation left by the DANA last week on the Valencian countryside is being drawn. The official figures are still few, but this example is worth it, and so far the Department of Agriculture of the Generalitat has already removed more than 2,950 dead animals, and that a good part of the roads are still impassable, the same for the farms. .
The first estimates from Agroseguros, the entity that manages agricultural insurance in Spain, suggest that there are potentially 20,000 hectares affected. But that is only among those that are insured, and we must remember that more than half of the citrus and vegetables in Valencia are not.
Agroseguro has already announced that the global economic cost of DANA will not exceed the 500 million euros that it paid last year to producers affected by the drought, but they are not comparable phenomena, since in this case nature has unleashed its rage on a very specific area, the regions of Ribera Alta and Baja, L’Horta, Hoya de Buñol, Utiel-Requena, Camp de Túria and Los Serranos mainly.
On the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, historic accumulations of water were recorded that overflowed ravines and rivers, forming an improvised flow that swept away thousands of vines and other crops; With them, they also took poles, cabins, irrigation systems, trees… “When I can access my farm I won’t even know where it is because the water has washed away the boundaries,” a farmer explained to this newspaper.
After devastating the inland regions, this flow descended to the coastal areas and flooded hundreds of citrus, persimmon, vegetable farms, etc. As Bernardo Ferrer, a citrus producer from La Ribera, explained to ABC yesterday, a good part of his region is still bogged down, so To the damage caused by the storm we will have to add that caused by the fungal infestationwhich will mean that production cannot be saved even for industrial uses (juices).
There is still no concrete data on the impact on citrus, but it is known that in the case of persimmon producers it is total, with 70% damage in a good part of the plantations. In fact, and given that the province of Valencia concentrates 15,000 of the 16,500 hectares of this fruit throughout our country, the Spanish Persimmon Association estimates that a third of the annual national production has been spoiled.
The only good news at this time, perhaps, is that given the geographical location of most persimmon farms, the damage has been focused mainly on the fruits, but not on the trees. Something different has happened with the vines of the inland regions.
The ‘in extremis’ rescue of animals
At this moment, despite everything, the most pressing problem is the one faced by livestock farmers, who have organized quickly because many farms remain inaccessible, and the livestock have to eat. ABC has contacted José Antonio Esteban, president of Precval in Valencia, an association that represents horse breeders and equestrian centers.
Without being able to hold back his tears, he explains that he has spent several practically sleepless nights trying to save pig, calf, horse and poultry farms. He tells us that with the support of the Department of Agriculture, only a few hours had passed after the disaster when they began to organize the logistics for the rescue of the animals, starting by establishing food collection centers in industrial warehouses donated by people in the sector.
The equestrian sector employer Precval has organized an operation to assist affected ranchers
From there, they have been distributing donated food to the affected farms all week. In addition, they have coordinated with the public company Tragsa to detect the roads that need urgent repair to be able to access places where there are still live cattle. At the moment they have already located about sixty affected equestrian centers and as many farms.
As explained yesterday to ABC Agroseguro, on some farms there are up to 600 dead cattle, many of them due to drowning. Precval, Asaja, the Spanish Kaki Association and the other organizations that this newspaper has contacted agree in calling on public administrations to immediately implement measures to support farmers, such as direct aid, tax credits and a specific recovery plan for producers. All this, beyond what they receive from Agroseguro, which they assure will fall short.
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