FM-Global-102+103+104-Joomag | Page 147

Vivercid - Valencia - Spain
And the Covid-19 arrived ...
“ Yes , then the corona-virus arrived . And it came in one of those ‘ special ’ years , when everything was perfect , with the plant in the best conditions and waiting for the spring campaign to start . The first moment was impressive . Decisions had to be made quickly , in the first phase only the financial team remained and hypotheses began to be raised , both economically and in production itself . On the one hand , there were the seasonal plants , we knew it was going to be lost and it had to be quantified . On the other hand , the “ longterm ” production , which requires at least irrigation and a minimal maintenance .
When the confinement ended , the staff worked shifts , keeping the minimum number of people in the nurseries to minimize risks . At first , even the rains and
Tres generaciones de la familia Magraner , de Vivercid : Salvador , Lara y Sara Three generations of the Magraner family : Salvador , Lara y Sara mild weather helped maintain the plant and keep it from growing too fast , nevertheless , treatments and many other tasks were required . With the start of the export , part of the production and order preparation team returned . And , once the garden opened its doors , the pace rose , albeit with the necessary shifts and teleworking as much as possible . Curiously , at that moment a new problem appeared , the difficulty of finding field personnel , both national and foreign ”.
“ Let ’ s go back . Could you quantify the losses that the coronavirus has caused at Vivercid ?
“ There are many variables that must be taken into account when evaluating these damages . Plants have been lost ; we are talking about a seasonal plant with flowers and others that could not be recycled and , due to different factors , had to be thrown away . The destruction of plants requires moving more than 200,000 kilos of substrate , plant mass and containers , with the associated extra cost . Current data assumes the loss of some 375,000 plants .
In total , we could talk about damages of 1,000,000 euros in plant and perishable material and another 2,000,000 euros that are expected to be losses this year due to Covid . ”
In this crisis , it seems , that the ornamental sector has not been treated as it should be by the different Administrations . Do you think that the proposed aid is sufficient to alleviate the damage ?
“ It is obvious that no administration has taken into account the idiosyncrasy of our sector , nor the irreparable losses caused in many different aspects . The truth is that during these years we have never expected aid ; we have practically not requested them , except for the presence at fairs . Nor on this occasion do we trust that they will be a solution to our problems .

Aid is already late , the greatest need was mainly in the time that we did not earn a single euro . On the other hand , the amounts approved ø

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