Orange theft Algarve in the fields leaves citrus farmers worried

Com trees full of fruit waiting for complete maturation and harvesting, producers arrive in the fields and come across bags and vans with orange already harvested from the tree, by people who enter the orchards without permission to do the robberies, told the agency Lusa Horácio Ferreira, of the Agricultural Cooperative of Citrekeepers of the Algarve (CACIAL).

“We’ve already picked up vans. We have already sent to GNR the picture of the registration of the vans ", he said, clarifying that "many manage to escape" before the producers or authorities arrive, others abandon the bags with the fruit already harvested and there are also those who know the quantities they can catch without being penalized by justice, if they are intercepted.

The citrus farmers thus see reduced the amount of fruit they obtain from the orchard, with negative effects on the billing, and the amounts collected at the end of the campaign will also be smaller, affecting the calculations for weather support, Horácio Ferreira exemplified.

According to the person responsible, the situation leads to the total final volume recorded in the supports not reflecting later the real productivity of the area.

“ We see oranges selling on the side of the road, go to the markets and markets [...] and we see people selling oranges that are not theirs ", criticized, calling for the creation of mechanisms to control the origin of this fruit and ensure the legality of the sale.

Consumers should also avoid the consumption of this fruit, which may be cheaper, but has also been collected during the application of chemical treatments, preventing it from being caught for a certain period of time, because it is harmful to health if consumed in that range, has warned.

“ And they may have more serious problems, than it is just a diarrhea or intestinal disorder ", warned.

Diana Tereso, from Algarorange – Association of Citrus Operators of the Algarve, also told Lusa that the theft of oranges in the field “concerns” the citrus producers, but nuanced that the impact is more felt in the barlavento (west) than in the leevento (este) algarvio.

“In fact, lately many producers and operators in the Silves area and the windmill have reported these situations [...]. On the other hand, Tavira producers and operators do not have this problem”, he reported, justifying this difference with the application in Tavira Segura, a partnership that combines municipality, landowners or GNR.

This partnership allows, through the georeference of orchards and identification of owners, a more effective action to respond to cases of theft such as those being carried out, or in case of fire, justified.

“ And the producers believe that this serves, in some way, to avoid this kind of situations in this county ", said Diana Tereso, defending a replication of this system in the municipality of Silves to give more support to producers of the windstorm and reduce the thefts of fruit in the field.

Nuno Evangelista is one of the affected producers in the Benaciate area of Silves, and told Lusa that there have been cases of orchards that have lost 20 tons of fruit in one weekend.

“The police can’t do that,” he lamented, giving the example of producers who can detect a group and thieves, they call GNR and when they return to the field they no longer find the authors.

The Algarve citrus grower stressed that, often, thefts are done by people who know the land, receive information from fruit pickers who have worked in these orchards, are often repeaters and, when they go to court, they end up in freedom.