XYLOFAGOU: Potato producers are counting their wounds - "Great damages were caused"

The storm that broke out for about an hour last night caused a lot of damage to fields with potatoes and grain, in communities of the free province of Famagusta and especially in Xylofagos, where it was also hit by hail.

As Andreas Karyos, a representative of the potato producers, reported to KYPE, "the torrential rains started around 9 last night and lasted for about an hour, especially in the Xylofagos area, as a result of which fields with potato crops were flooded. Until one o'clock this afternoon, there was hail in areas of the communities of Xylofagos, Frenarous, Liopetriou and Avgoros," he said.

Answering a question, Mr. Karios said that "from the floods and the hail, great damages were caused, amounting to several thousand euros. However, we will have to wait a few days to see if there will be potato destruction, so that the damages can be assessed," he noted.

He added that "the one harvest of early potatoes, in Xylofagos and Liopetri, in the majority of them, i.e. 80%, has been completed. At the moment, there does not seem to be any damage to greenhouses and other open crops with various products", he said, and noted that "due to the lack of rain, the grains in the area have not grown enough, but in areas where it has rained a lot, they will be damaged".

In another question, Mr. Karyos said that officials of the Department of Agriculture went to the flooded fields early in the morning to take a closer look and record the damage caused. "The officials of the Department told us that after the registration it will be decided whether the affected producers will be notified, to make declarations of damage", he said.

He also noted that "the officials of the Department of Agriculture themselves knew that there were flooded fields and went to the specific areas, namely Xylofagou, Avgorou, Liopetri and Frenaros, early in the morning, to carry out damage assessments".