A violent and sudden wave of bad weather hit Puglia in recent hours, with hailstorms, cloudbursts, strong wind gusts and vortex phenomena that caused damage to farmland. According to Coldiretti Puglia, the situation is particularly severe for table grape vineyards in the countryside around Gioia del Colle and Santeramo in Colle, where hail struck the grape clusters right in the middle of the harvest campaign. The bad weather, according to the association's assessment, affected a wide swath of the region, from the Bari area to the Brindisi area, with hailstorms and downpours also reported in the areas of Acquaviva delle Fonti and Cassano delle Murge.
In the vineyards of Gioia del Colle and Santeramo, "the hail caused damage to the berries, compromising the quality and marketability of the grapes, while the rain that fell in a violent and concentrated manner increases the risk of rot at the very time when farms are engaged in harvesting and delivering their produce."
The consequences of the wind were even more severe, with uprooted trees and damaged plants, and the need to assess any damage to agricultural installations and structures. In the Cassano delle Murge area, the strong wind also brought down trees, confirming the violence of the gusts that accompanied the passing of the storm system.
Coldiretti is therefore calling on the Region "to promptly activate technical services to assess damage to crops, installations and agricultural structures, with on-site inspections in the affected farmland and a thorough survey of losses suffered by farms. The priority now is to rapidly quantify the damage at agricultural businesses and activate all available tools to support the affected farmers, protecting farm incomes and production continuity."
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