A few days from the start of the olive campaign, the thunderstorm and the fall of hail caused losses in olive groves of the municipality of Alfândega da Fé, district of Bragança, identified today the agricultural cooperative of the county.
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06/10/2026
by
Lusa
A Lusa, the president of the agricultural cooperative of Customs of the Faith, Luís Jerónimo, said that the fall of hail, at the end of Sunday, caused losses in the olive groves of the village, but also of the south of the county, in villages such as Eucísia and Valverde.
This phenomenon, according to Luís Jerónimo, caused olives to fall to the ground and “there is fruit on top of the tree that will be marked”, and can “compromise the quality of the product”.
The forecasts point to “a good year” of olive production, with a quantity higher than the previous year, but for the chairman of the agricultural cooperative, “if these thunders continue, the fruit begins to disappear”.
José Carlos Pimentel was one of the farmers affected. With 10 hectares of olive grove in the parish of Eucisia, he told Lusa that about 10% of the olive that was in the tree fell to the ground due to hail.
“The olive falls to the ground a lot. Already with the problem of drought, and now with the stone, just fell ", lamented.
The producer says that it is still “a little difficult” to quantify the damage, but ensured that the olive that fell to the ground is “lost”, since it cannot be caught for production.
“ It also affects the olive to which it is left, it gets high, but the greatest damage is the one that falls”, he said, having the expectation that the one that is in the tree is still “acute”, although “damaged”.
The fall of hail affected essentially the municipality of Customs of the Faith. Lusa contacted several agricultural associations in the district that said there was no drop in hail, notably in municipalities such as Carrazeda de Ansiães and Mirandela.
The olive campaign is due to start on the second half of October. The president of APPITAD- Associação de Farmers de Portugal, Francisco Pavão, had already revealed to Lusa that it is expected to harvest 15% more olives than in 2025, the rain being beneficial to olive trees, which were under water stress.
According to APPITAD – Association of Farmers of Portugal, last year, in Trás-os-Montes almost 84 thousand tons of olives were harvested, which yielded 13 thousand tons of olive oil.