How does hail damage crops and what do the professionals say about it? (VIDEO)
For many years now, VH Lietuva“, a division of the crop mutual fund „Vereinigte Hagel“, has been in the spotlight when heavy rains, droughts or hailstorms sweep through the country and farmers' future harvests are destroyed.
While a couple of years ago farmers had the opportunity to see tests on oilseed rape damaged at different growth stages, this year it was decided to see what happens to beans when they are damaged by hail.
„Together with scientists from the Lithuanian Centre for Agrarian and Forestry Sciences (LACAFS), we have presented trials simulating hail damage at different stages of crop development. We are doing this so that we can transfer this methodological material into our assessment methodologies," Rusteika explained to Agrobitė play, adding that this increases farmers' confidence in insurers.
Dr. Ona Auškalnienė, Senior Researcher at the Soil and Crop Production Division of the LAMMC, said that unlike the canola trials 2 years ago, the bean crops recovered only when hail damaged them before flowering. Beans damaged at later stages of development lost their yield.
„We simulated snapping and bending. This is also important in terms of how the plant is damaged," said Dr. Ona Auškalnienė, who explained in detail what happens to the bean in one case or another.
Farmers themselves said that such tests increase the transparency of damage payments because the methodologies are based on science. For his part, Dr Philipp Schönbach‘, a member of the board of the crop mutual fund „Vereinigte Hagelversicherung VVaG“, who visited the trials, provided farmers with insights that are relevant not only for Lithuania, but also for farmers all over Europe.
See it all in this „Agrobite play“ report.
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