“When he was returning home after a particularly long day, a message came to his cell phone. Freezing forecast for the next hour. He made a sudden turn and headed back to the car: he had to turn on the fans in the gardens before the temperature dropped even further. The imaginary scene represents the implementation of a new and efficient frost early warning system funded and developed by Ministry of Rural Development and Food in collaboration with AMY And ELGA (Agricultural Insurance Agency), which was introduced. Avoidance or even restriction frost damage (temperature below -2 degrees Celsius) in crops and plant capital can, on the one hand, preserve the production and income of producers, and on the other hand, significantly reduce the cost state budget.

According to ELGA, between 2000 and 2009, frost caused 36% of all natural disasters in our country. In the last 23 years alone, the cost of redressing damages to productive or productive capital has been estimated at around 1.25 billion euros. “Because of changing of the climate we often have early flowering, like this winter, when the trees were “fooled” by high temperatures, as a result of which, with the onset of frosts, the crop is destroyed,” notes Minister of Rural Development Giorgos Georgantas in “K”.

“Compensation is a fire-fighting measure, not a preventive one,” the minister notes. “These natural disasters hurt both the Greek budget, which incurs compensation costs, and our farmers, who lose part of their production.”

And on mobile

Timely intervention can protect the crop from complete destruction.

The application is already available on PC (frost.minagrik.gr), and by the end of next month the application will be ready to work on a mobile phone. Thanks to this, manufacturers will be able to receive an updated weather forecast every hour for the next three days, so that everyone can know exactly when the event starts and ends.

The application was developed in a geographic information systems environment and uses the meteorological forecasts of the European Meteorological Center, so it can provide information at the field level.

But what measures can be taken to limit the impact of frost before and after this event?

According to experts, windmills can be installed especially in large gardens at a height of up to 10 meters. At this height there is a layer of warm air, which is used by the wind mixer. Their installation is subsidized by ELGA. Sprinkler irrigation can also be used, as water on plant and soil surfaces before frost causes heat to be released (as it cools and then solidifies) and thus creates a layer of insulation. There is also the option of installing heaters (although installation costs are very high, typically used in vineyards in France) or placing insulation materials around tree trunks. However, even after frost there is the possibility of spraying with special preparations that give the plant strength for flowering to a very large extent.