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The rainy season in recent days in the Jerte Valley (Cáceres) has a victim: cherries and pillories that are in full production season. The numbers are scary. The president of the D.O.P Cereza del Jerte, José Antonio Tierno confirms that between 18 and 20 million kilos of this product have been lost, "but the damage could continue to increase" in the coming days, warns because the full extent of the damage is not yet known. The losses are currently estimated at EUR 70 million and farmers are already asking for the declaration of a disaster area.

The affected areas also extend to the regions of Ambroz, La Vera, Hurdes and Sierra de Gata. The mayors of these affected municipalities have met with the sub-delegate of the Government in Cáceres, José Antonio García, to know the aid they can request.

The heavy rains have affected "almost the entire cherry campaign of the Jerte Valley". According to the calculations of the Regulatory Council, 80% of the harvest is damaged and is considered lost. The other 20% of the total production had already been collected, an insufficient amount to cover the market, which will also cause prices to rise in the market as there is very little supply. "The vast majority of cherries that are on trees are cracked, rotten or stained by excess moisture," confirms Tierno. And the prospects are not promising because it is expected to continue raining in this area of the region of Cáceres during the next few days. And only approximately 7% of the affected farms have insurance. "The vast majority of cherries that are on trees are cracked, rotten or stained by excess moisture," he describes.

During these days, the technicians of the group of cooperatives of the Valle del Jerte are already working on the preparation of an exhaustive report of damages with the area affected by municipality, a report that will be released next Monday.

The Protected Designation of Origin expressed its solidarity with the affected farmers. The loss of the harvest is a "catastrophe" for Jerte because "all the families of the valley depend, at different levels, on the cultivation of cherry," says Tierno. "We must bear in mind that the economy of the area depends between 70% and 80% on these fruits. Therefore, this situation means having to live with only 20% of the income, "he says.

With only that small part of the production saved (20%), "the objective will be to export as much product as possible because it is where the greatest value is obtained", but they are aware that "it poses a greater risk because the fruit would be in delicate conditions and could not withstand the process well".

The campaign already began in an atypical way this year because the flowering was delayed between 10 and 12 days precisely on the contrary, due to the deficit of rainfall that has been during the winter and much of the spring, although later, the high temperatures favored the development of the fruits, and, until this moment, it was expected "that the harvest was good, both in volume and product quality."

THE PILLORIES ALSO AFFECTED

The pillory campaign, the other star product in the area, was now in the process of being harvested. At the moment, the incidence of 'rajas' in this variety is limited to between 10% and 15% of the harvest, but according to Tierno, "if it continues to rain as planned, it will end up cracking as well". The pillory, in addition, are very sensitive to developing spots, which reduces their value in the market. The cherry harvest accounts for 20% or 25% of the total cherry campaign.

Although this year the percentage had increased slightly, it is estimated that only between 5% and 7% of cherry farms have insurance contracted to deal with catastrophes of this type. From the D.O.P Cereza del Jerte it is recommended to have policies to face disasters. President José Antonio Tierno, defends that the ideal is that "the totality of the crops were assured because the sustenance of many families is out in the open." "It's as if people have their money and goods on the street, waiting to see what can happen," he concludes.

The D.O.P Cereza del Jerte joins the request for the declaration of catastrophic zone after the heavy rains that have ruined the harvest because it defends that, "obviously it is a catastrophe", but claims that it is accompanied by "concrete measures so that it does not remain in a toast to the sun" and asks for "political will despite the fact that the administrations are in office".

THE DAMAGE

The president of the Commonwealth of Municipalities of Valle del Jerte and farmer, José Ramón Herrero, who explained that the cherry is a fruit to which the rain does "a lot of damage" when it is ripe because "the tree takes water very quickly" so the fruit "begins to fatten very quickly and bursts the skin and cracks".

In this context, last Saturday, the celebration in the municipality of Jerte of the "Cherry Festival" was planned, with which the vallenses intended to show that it is now when the red fruit, after long months of work, becomes the true protagonist of the life of the jerteños. However, given the complicated situation experienced by the cereceros, due to the serious damage caused by the rains, the local action group of Valle del Jerte (Soprodevaje) has decided "in solidarity with the farmers, workers, workers and families of the region", to cancel this celebration, which had been held for 13 years.

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