Crop losses ranging between 70-80% due to rain and hail are a common phenomenon for cherry and grape growers.

An Israeli-developed woven HDPE retractable rain shelter has provided a sustainable solution for growers in Brazil and Chile and now is looking to address Australian growers as well.

Many cherry and berry growers have been suffering from significant crop loss as not only hail, but rain events continue to hamper production.

“We have seen many growers over the years losing virtually most of their crops when it comes to cherries, for example,” says PIC-Plast GM Itzhak Shopen. “Both rain and hail have a detrimental impact, but since rain events usually last longer, the mechanical damage is more comprehensive.”

PIC-Plast started off in a small moshav (cooperative agricultural community) about 15km from Nazareth roughly 20 years ago before moving to the nearby town of Afula where it is currently located.

Over the years PIC-Plast has developed sustainable structures for farmers, ranging from greenhouses and net houses and rain shelters. These rain shelters consist of high-quality soft plastic woven HDPE sheets which overhang a system of cables and supporting beams and can be drawn in winter and opened in the summer.

The product branded ‘GR PRO’ has been installed in hundreds of hectares in Brazil and Chile, withstanding severe conditions of hail, rain, and wind, according to Mr Shopen.

“The results have been impressive over the years, saving the vast majority of the formerly destined-to-be-lost crops. The simple structure, including only ‘A’ shaped poles and sheets connected to overhanging cables allows quick returns on the initial investment.”

Mr Shopen said the most interesting property of the GR PRO is that despite its strength to withstand wind flapping, and its high puncture resistance, which gives the sheets an opaque look, it allows 88% UV sunlight transmission.

“A major concern usually lies with the flapping of the sheets in strong winds”, Mr Shopen said. “The first problem is that continuous winds can decrease the service life of the rain shelter, but we have managed to overcome this with extra reinforcements.

“The other problem is the occurrence of extreme winds which might ruin or even cause the collapse of the structure. We have managed to address this by devising a structure which can withstand 80kph winds.

“The GR PRO contains eyelets with grommets which are connected to the top steel cables with clips and rubber bands. The rubber bands allow more elasticity for the sheets to flutter, so that less stress is applied on the eyelets, decreasing wear and tear.

“In other words, the rubber bands act as a form of energy absorbers, moving the stress caused by the wind away from the sheets.”

Mr Shopen said the GR PRO sheets typically last for five years and can last for longer in certain conditions. “The GR PRO is made of Solarig plastic, which is a multi-layer, woven HDPE sheet and is superior to the extruded plastics in terms of strength and resistance to repeated forces.”

He said the manufacturing factory in China provides Australian importers the benefit of relatively low freight charges and the company’s products can be found at local stockists.