Spain: Potatoes and other crops fear serious damage from heat waves and fires
The Spanish agricultural and livestock sector fears a long list of damages as a result of the heat waves, including a reduction in the upcoming olive harvest, in addition to losses from the later potato harvest.
Heat waves like the current one can cause a decline in olive and even vineyard crops, reduce tomato production for processing, and disrupt harvest schedules for grain and fruit, according to sources from the agricultural organizations Asaja , COAG, UPA, and Unión de Uniones, who spoke to EFE.
But when assessing the high temperatures, they bear in mind that they may have also contributed to the start of the wildfires ravaging forests across a significant portion of the country, the effects of which on farms will become clear in the coming days.
Farmers are already familiar with torrid summers, but they agree that waves like this week’s are unusual in mid-August.
The heat has brought forward the potato harvest in Castile and León, the latest crop, which is then stored throughout the winter and spring, due to the drying out of the plants: "It would have been better if they had been in the field for 15 more days."
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