Sebastián Girard is a horticultural producer in Paysandú, and sends its production to the Metropolitan Agrifood Unit (UAM). This week he had scheduled a shipment of sweet potatoes and carrots (two of the three items that he produces on his farm), but he had to cancel it, because the squall that affected that department caused damage to its fieldand the production that was going to take to the market was left under the rubble of a shed that the wind “tore up whole”, the producer told The Observer.
For the second time this year, the wood and nylon shed in which Sebastián washes, prepares and packs his produce to take to market was destroyed by the wind. The first time was in February, after a strong storm.
In the shed I had sweet potatoes and carrots harvested a few days ago. Something will be able to rescue, but much was beaten and wet. Although what most complicates the activity ahead is the damage suffered by the machines, which now must be repaired.
This is the second time in the year that Sebastian’s shed has been destroyed by a storm.
“The wind was terrible, it was a second in which everything started. The shed was quite well built, but it did not resist,” said the producer. In the field, where he also has his house, some trees fell and a piece of the roof of the house was blown off, but “luckily there were no injuries “, he commented.
He has been working in the horticultural field for 10 years, on 20 hectares in his field located on Route 90. He is dedicated to producing onions, sweet potatoes and carrots, and despite the fact that the wind hit him hard, he is sure that what is left for forward is to get up and continue working.
“You can’t do anything against the weather, these are things that happen,” he said. He has not yet contacted departmental authorities, but he learned that an engineer from the Paysandú Municipality is touring fields to assess damage. “A hand would not hurt “said the producer.
Sebastián produces onions, sweet potatoes and carrots on 20 hectares.
open pit production
Its production is developed 100% in the open. Onions, which had been planted a short time ago, were the most affected at the crop level. The damage has not been fully assessed yet, since the storm was this morning, but although something is expected to be saved, a lot of production was hithe indicated.
The machinery with which the products are packed for the market must be repaired after the storm.
“Total chaos”
Although there are no indoor crops in the field of Sebastián, in other establishments of the department they do work iGreenhouses, structures that were greatly affected by the wind in several establishments.
The producer said that, as he learned from colleagues, some tomato and bell pepper crops were affected on several farms.
Several greenhouses were destroyed by the wind.
Juan Moreno, president of the Livestock Commission of Deputies, and resident of Paysandú, commented to The Observer that this morning he made a tour of horticultural establishments and in the morning the situation was “total chaos”.
“There are countless greenhouses affected and I imagine that open-air horticulture was also badly damaged. The wind was tremendous, in the horticultural area there was a lot of damage due to fallen trees and destroyed sheds, we estimate that it is much more than we think”, he indicated. According to him, she highlighted, the most affected were the small rural producers, since they are the ones located on the outskirts of the city.
“The wind came across, grabbed a part where there are many small farms and did serious damage,” he added.
dogs died
The squall hit hard in the city, where there were destroyed houses, fallen trees and a lot of damage to power lines. The premises of the Paysandú Fair Exhibition Rural Association also suffered building damage, roof blowing and glass breakage.
The damage at the production level is still being studied, given that in the area there are many establishments of family producers, such as farms, small dairy farms and livestock establishments, mainly sheep. So far, no reports of deaths of production animals have been reported, but it is known that dogs were electrocuted by fallen cables.reported.
This week Sebastián was going to send production to the UAM.
