Frost damage to stone fruits in Italy’s Basilicata

Stone fruit in Italy’s Basilicata region were hit by late February frosts. In Metaponto, while strawberry flowers grown under tunnels did not suffer severe damage, many stone fruit flowers had already blossomed and thus fared worse.
Sprinkler sprays installed in tunnels for growing berries maintain temperatures and protect the crops. Instead, the earlier varieties of nectarines were heavily damaged by the unseasonably cold weather. It is still too early to assess the extent of the damage caused to later varieties.