According to the estimate made by Confagricoltura, the damage caused to the vineyards of Piedmont by the exceptional wave of frost on 7 and 8 April, when the thermometer dropped to -8.5 degrees on the plains, amounted to 18 million euros.
A total area of 5,000 hectares was damaged.
The calculation of the losses relates only to the grapes that will not be produced and to the costs for replacing the cuttings.
"The damages - explains Ercole Zuccaro, director of Confagricoltura Piemonte - are fortunately localized but such as to create significant economic repercussions on the affected companies".
The percentages range from 20% up to over 40%, particularly young plants affected.
Among the most affected areas is the Acquese, in the province of Alessandria where 800 hectares of vineyards have been damaged, with production losses up to 40%. "In the province of Cuneo, some damage is reported in the Roero and in the areas of Barolo and Barbaresco where the vines had begun to vegetate with the first sprouts. In the Asti area "the surface affected by frosts is 4,000 hectares, with an average damage of 35%, significant damage in the Nizza area and in the Belbo and Tiglione valleys," explains the Director of Asti Agriculture Mariagrazia Baravalle.
In the province of Turin, vineyards in the Pinerolese and in some areas of the Canavese have been affected: an average damage of 30% is estimated on an area of about 200 hectares. Some Nebbiolo vineyards have been affected, particularly in the Gattinara area (Vercelli) and in the Novara area.
In Piedmont there are 13,177 companies that grow lives.
(HANDLE).
