A photo of a destroyed greenhouse in Apulia that was published by a local online magazine; Lecce Prima.
Heavy snowfall in the South
According to Quilici, the growers in the South are suffering the most as they have to deal with this heavy snowfall. "Here in Tuscany, where Flora Toscana is situated, we are only dealing with cold temperatures. At night, for example we have had temperatures like minus 5 or even 6 Degrees Celsius. Then the growers have to invest more in heating the greenhouse, but that's it", he says.
In the South, however, and especially in Apulia, the growers are dealing with cold and heavy snowfall. They, their crop, their greenhouse structures and the region are not used to snowfall and are therefore all affected. "Many of the greenhouse structures cannot support the quantity of snow on the roof and therefore collapsed. But even if the structure can support the snow, the growers often cannot sent out their shipments as the roads are blocked by the snow. Fortunately, January can be considered to be low season for the majority of growers as the demand for plants is low. Therefore many decide to postpone the shipments and start again in February."
For the growers with damaged greenhouses and crops, it will probably take longer to be able to ship their flowers again and they all hope to be on time. "Their greenhouses and crops need to be ready soon as they season will start in a couple of months. Then, their structures need to be fixed and their crops need to be ready to be shipped out."
This picture has been taken by a partner of Flora Toscana of his grevillea production in Apulia.
Flora Toscana
Flora Toscana is one of the most important cooperatives in the Italian horticultural sector. Based in Pescia (Tuscany) Flora Toscana is the result of a merge between Geo-Flor Toscana and Toscoflora, and consists of over 100 employees and 250 members who are growing flowers and plants on 320 hectares (70% flowers - 30% plants), spread over 5 sites in Italy. Flora Toscana's core business activities are the supply of technical facilities for professionals and the marketing of cut flowers, foliages and pot plants produced by the member grower companies.
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Flora Toscan
aEmail: info@floratoscana.it
www.floratoscana.it