GRAPES in Paphos have been hit by an outbreak of Peronosporos disease, a rapidly spreading type of mildew that has caused widespread damage to mainly white grapes in the Laona villages of Kathikas, Arodes, Droushia and Ineia.
“We can’t do anything to fix this situation as the disease is caused by humidity and rain,” said local wine producer Yiannis Kyriakides of Vasilikon winery.
“The only way to combat this is to spray before hand, but you don’t know when the rain is coming. It’s expensive to spray and growers try to avoid doing it, as there’s such a small chance of this disease occurring.”
Kyriakides said heat is the ‘doctor’, and the ‘medicine’, adding, “If the temperature is over 30 degrees, then there is no humidity, and therefore no Peronosporos.”
Peronosperos is also known by the common name of downy mildew, which refers to any of several types of microbes that are parasites of plants.
According to Costas Michael, the plant protection officer of the Paphos district office, the timing of rainfall at various times throughout May provided ideal conditions for the disease to develop and spread.
Michael pointed out that the district office made announcements in the villages prior to the rain, but according to him, they didn’t spray their vines, which may have helped to prevent the blight.
“The mixture of rain and humidity is what this disease needs. We warned the villagers but they didn’t spray,” he said.
“Many of these fields are on mountains and access is difficult, and also the farmers don’t have water supplies on site. It can be a long way for farmers to bring water to use in the sprays from their homes.”
Michael said the first symptoms of the disease appeared on May 17 in the Laona villages.
“The first visible signs are dots on the leaves,” he said. “The disease then spreads to the fruit and dries the grape out.”
He estimates that as much as 80 per cent of some producers’ grapes has been destroyed.
Panikos Leonida, the district secretary of EKA, the Cyprus Union of Agriculture said the vines of many union members have been hit by the disease.
“The disease has mostly affected the Laona area, such as Kathikas, and Arodes, although other villages of Killi, Stroumpi, Tsada, Letymbou, Kallepia, Polemi, Theletra and Yioulou have also been affected,” he said.
According to Leonida, the main problem is with the white xynisteri grapes although a few maratheftiko grapes have also been affected.
“The last outbreak of Perenosporos was around a decade ago, but the greatest damage was caused about 50 years ago.”
Kyriakides from Vasilikon winery said that they can’t use the grapes which are diseased.
”We can’t do anything to stop it; it’s out of our hands. It will stop with the heat, but the damage has now been done.”
And for next year? “We will spray to get the grapes right, and it will be OK. We will also have to burn and prune the vine to prevent the disease from spreading.”
According to producers, there is no insurance for this disease.
“We are now waiting for the department of agriculture to inform us if they have been granted assistance from the EU,” said Michael.
Many families won’t have an income for this year, but will prune their vines, which should be healthy for next year. But Michael stresses that this year; wine production from some areas will be very low. The disease also affected areas such as Tsada, Letymbou and Panayia, but luckily these areas only saw 5 to 30 per cent damage.
“We don’t know yet if we will receive anything,” said Kyriakides.
The minister of the environment and natural resources, Michalis Polynikis, has visited the stricken area twice, and according to Kyriakides he was shocked by the devastation to the vines.
“He said he would help but I don’t know in what way. I think that whatever the government give us they have to give an explanation of the payout to the European Union, and it has to be only for certain criteria.”
Leonida said,”as I understand it, they tell me we will have a problem next year as well. But the main problem will be this year. We will have produced the smallest amount of grapes in our history,” he said.
Kyriakides assured that although his Vassilikon winery is a small production, output wouldn’t be adversely affected. “But vine growers are dependent and reliant on these grapes, it’s their life. They spend a lot of money on spraying and tending the vines and it’s the only income for many families,” he stressed.
Leonida underlined that it’s not all bad news. “We have many wineries around Cyprus and I think we will make less, but better wines. I can see the producers, year by year, are making better quality wines. I think in Cyprus now, we have a ‘grown up’ wine culture.”
