Fruit crops badly hit

Press, 4 January 1980, Page 3

Fruit crops badly hit

Fruitgrowers in the Heathcote area lost fruit worth many thousands of dollars during the storm. Much of the fruit lost was in the Horotane Valley where tonnes of plums and apricots were blown to. the ground by high winds. The storm came at a critical time with only 25 per cent of the crop in the valley harvested. The widespread damage occurred to standing trees, glasshouses, and the crops on the trees. One grower, Mr P. C. Dawson, said everybody had lost glass, in many instances as much as 200 to 300 panes, from their glasshouses. On one property 16m of wall in a glasshouse was blown down. Carports and lean-to build-

ings had also been demolished by the wind in the valley. Mr Dawson said that in his own orchard yesterday morning the fallen plums completely covered the grass under the trees. In addition to his heavy loss of fruit, he estimated that 5 to 10 per cent of his trees had been lost — either uprooted or with limbs tonoff. The main season was from shortly before Christmas until mid-February, and he had not begun picking his mid-season crop, Mr Dawson said. He had picked between 20 and 25 per cent of the crop before the storm. Growers in the valley rarely suffered fruit damage of this kind at this stage of the season. This year had been a good one for fruit production until the storm, and there had not been the early sea-

Ison damage usually inflicted, ;by hailstorms in October or December. One grower estimated that he had lost SO per cent of his crop of apricots in the Istorm. Mid-Canterbury berryfruit growers were counting theirl, losses yesterday. ; There is no insurance I against wind and stormji damage , to crops and costs! are expected to run intoj, thousands of dollars for! isomegrowers. A Hinds grower. Mr G. Agnew, described the storm . as one of the most severe he ( had encountered in years and which could not have come at a worse time. 1 However, pastoral farmers ■ in the province have not * suffered so badly. The only 1 real problem is the harvest of ryegrass for seed. The ] grass in many areas was cut 1 during the last week and; was drying before heading ]

, but this has now been postponed until the grass dries again. Just how badly damaged the ryegrass crops are will not be assessable until harvest. Although there was plenty ■of shearing under way in i North and Mid-Canterbury, (stock losses had been kept !to a minimum, said Ministry of Agriculture farm advisory {officers last evening. ■ Mr A. S. Brown, a farm {adviser stationed at Ashburton, said the heavy', cold rain had had no significant effect on stock. Both Mr Brown and Mr H. Bennetts, a farm adviser at Darfield, said pasture and cereal crops would benefit from the rain. The rain would improve pasture at a time when lambs were being fattened and some ewes being prepared for tupping, they said. :