The chestnut harvest in Viladrau (Girona) is marked by high temperatures and the lack of autumn rain. Production will fall 25% compared to last year, also affected by the drought.
Of the 16 tons from a year ago, producers plan to keep 12. “It is a somewhat abnormal season, with slower harvesting and greener chestnuts, which should be allowed to mature more before serving,” admits the person in charge of the Center for Chestnut Manipulation Joaquim Solé.
Solé maintains that the quality is good and maintains the properties of the local product. For the first time. The owners have no longer had any damage from wild boars. although they continue to have poaching by organized groups and demand greater police surveillance. “We feel very unprotected,” she says.
The chestnut producers of Viladrau, in the heart of Montseny, are used to depending on the weather. This year, high temperatures have left the chestnut trees in sunniest areas without production, while those located in the north “are holding up better.” However, the lack of water makes maturation slower and has even caused the death of some specimens. “We get it with the hedgehog – the outer skin with spikes – and the chestnut is greener, although on the outside it looks brown,” details the person in charge of the Chestnut Handling Center, Joaquim Solé.
Now what they need is that the temperatures do not rise more than 18 degrees and, if it ends up raining, it would allow ripening to accelerate and the skins would drop the chestnuts. “This can vary from day to day,” he notes.
This year they have added more hectares, in total they manage almost eighty, but they are not enough to compensate for the drop in production. However, the quality is still good. Solé recommends not buying chestnuts in bulk because, if they are not packaged, you cannot know where they come from. Remember that it takes days for large retailers to put them on sale in supermarkets.
“We, on the other hand, harvest it today, package it and you can buy it tomorrow,” he remarks.
In Catalonia, Viladrau represents 2% of the total market, dominated by chestnuts from Galicia. “The one outside and this one have nothing to do with it,” he says. However, he assures that they have more and more clients who, apart from valuing the quality of the product, also take into account the work they do all year round to care for the chestnut trees and the farms in a sustainable way.
The price of the Viladrau chestnut will rise by 2%. “Just because there are fewer chestnuts does not mean that we will raise prices, because it is already tight enough,” said Solé, recalling that they also have sales with other products made in the facilities of the Chestnut Center.
The star product is the roasted chestnut, which this year has received the distinction of the Girona Excellent quality seal promoted by the Girona Provincial Council.
One factor that is going in their favor this year is that they have no damage from the ravages of the wild boar. “It had never happened to us,” admits Quim Solé. Last year they started harvesting in the afternoons to prevent the wild boar from eating them at night. But this time they harvest again as before, in the mornings. “Now that we have one less harvester, we have to know how to take advantage of it,” he says. They do not know the reasons, but they sense that it is because, with the drought, the animals have moved to other areas where they are guaranteed food.
What has not slowed down are the thefts of chestnuts. Solé details that last weekend they had two very worrying episodes. These are professional groups that, with the help of ropes, break down the branches of the chestnut trees to directly collect the skins. “Breaking the branches means they will be dead and will no longer produce,” he says.
For this reason, they demand more surveillance from the administrations because they do not have the capacity to do so. “We can’t do it alone, we need help,” he says, adding that “your job is to take care of the chestnut trees and harvest the fruits but not to monitor the thefts.” “It’s a lot of wear and tear” and they can’t go any further, he admits. They warn that poachers appear especially on weekends.
Another trend that they claim has not yet been reversed is that of families who come to Viladrau with the idea that they can harvest chestnuts without taking into account that it is an economic activity on private farms. Solé remembers that in order to have productive and quality chestnut trees, many months of work and management of the farms are needed.
