Moimenta da Beira, Portugal, Aug. 20, 2025 (Lusa) - This year, there will definitely be a drop in wine and apple production, because there is a lot of damage, one of the heads of the Távora Agricultural Cooperative told Lusa on Wednesday.
"At first glance, I can say that in the Sernancelhe area, many vineyards have burnt down and others have been damaged. We're talking about vineyards in various locations, which means that this year there will be a drop in production," said the vice-president of the Cooperative.
Nuno Franclim added that, as far as apples are concerned, most of them are in the municipality of Moimenta da Beira, where the co-operative is based.
"There are orchards that have all burnt down, fortunately, these are one-offs, but there are several where the flames didn't get in, but burnt the sides."
Localities such as Caria, Vila Cova, Carrapito and Pera Velha were "where the greatest damage was recorded, this is a first analysis, because now we need to go to the field and do a more precise survey".
In the municipality of Moimenta da Beira, "a lot is made of the land, whether it's direct agriculture or fruit trees," such as apple trees and vines, but also chestnut trees and olive groves.
At the Távora Agricultural Cooperative, which focuses particularly on apples and wine, producers come in and leave a record of what has been burnt. "My crop insurance is done here, now I'm waiting for some support to arrive," said one producer.
Nuno Franclim told Lusa that the harvest insurance "only covers the fruit that was to be harvested, it doesn't cover the burnt trees, for that we need special support, which we hope will arrive".
"That's why we're on the ground surveying so that we can then meet with the organisations to find out what support we can get. Because one thing is the harvest, another is the damage to the tree," he added.
Although the co-operative only works with apples and grapes, Nuno Franclim said that, from what he saw, "there are a lot of olive trees and a lot of chestnut trees, especially in the Sernancelhe area, that have burnt down".
There, "the damage is very, very extensive".
"I don't know what it's going to be like, because these are trees that take years to bear fruit and become mature."
The fire that reached Sernancelhe originated from two fires - on the 13th, in Sátão (Viseu district) and on the 9th, in Trancoso (Guarda district) - and on Friday, it became one, spreading to 11 municipalities in the two districts.
The 11 municipalities are Sátão, Sernancelhe, Moimenta da Beira, Penedono and São João da Pesqueira (Viseu district); Aguiar da Beira, Trancoso, Fornos de Algodres, Mêda, Celorico da Beira and Vila Nova de Foz Côa (Guarda district).
The fire was put out at 22:00 on Sunday.
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