Farmers on the island of La Palma, especially those closest to the 'ground zero' of the volcanic eruption, in the municipalities of El Paso and Los Llanos de Aridane, see the future marked by the "uncertainty" of the evolution of the lava, if it finally reaches the sea and further damages the plantations and the irrigation network, and the impact that volcanic ash may have on crops.
"The landscape is black, on all the roofs, and it transmits to us the sorrow of the 71 eruption in Teneguía, but it had nothing to do with this one, everything is very changing," summarizes the president of the Palmera Association of Farmers and Ranchers (ASPA), Miguel Martín.
The lava, which is moving through the Todoque area towards the coast of Tazacorte, has the banana growers, the island's star crop, especially in the Aridane Valley, on edge, which is why a meeting of the Association of Exporting Entities and Banana Cooperatives (Asepalma) has been called for this Tuesday to analyze possible measures.
Martín comments that the recommendation to not cut fruit in the areas near the emission of lava, gases and ash is maintained, but in some more distant areas it is being cut and it is hoped that there will be no restriction of fruit in the banana market in the last quarter of the year.
He said that the objective is for the fruit to "reach the market in optimal conditions" and although La Palma accounts for almost 40% of banana production in the Canary Islands, in principle, there will be no effects on banana farms in other parts of the island and the harvest from other islands, such as Tenerife, is also contributed, mainly.
Martín commented that there will be direct damage to farms and many will be lost in El Paso and Los Llanos as it passes through Todoque, and it could even worsen if the lava, on its way to the coast of Tazacorte, widens and does not flow in a straight line.
"We don't know the collateral damage," he says. The most serious, without a doubt, is the impact on the irrigation network, which comes from the north and for now "holds up", although it is not known if the network will be destroyed by the passage of the lava.
"We are a little disheartened"
"The volcano has just started but we don't know where the damage is going to reach nor do we know the damage of the ash in much of the island," he said.
Right now, and looking to the future, the big "problem" would be the impossibility of irrigating and for this, the institutions are working on a contingency plan to guarantee irrigation.
Martín insisted that the evolution of the volcano is "unpredictable" and has the farmers "a little disheartened" and they wonder what to do with the plantations.
