Strong winds shook Canary Islands banana plantations over the weekend, dealing notable production damage to the northern islands of Tenerife, La Palma and Gran Canaria.

Canary Banana Cooperative quality manager Jose Oramas said significant damage had been reported from winds Sunday and Monday when gusts near the La Palma airport reached over 90 miles per hour.

"Sunday and Monday there were important damages to banana plantations on different islands and different zones," Oramas said.

"Some zones were really affected in the north. In some cases 30% to 40% of production was lost but in others no. It’s possible that output will go down and that producers will lose a lot of kilos."

Spanish insurance group Agroseguro had already begun to assess the situation and encouraged insured farmers to make their claims as quickly as possible, www.agroinformation.com reported.

Tenerife, La Palma and Gran Canaria are the top three banana producing islands in the Canaries, accounting respectively for 46.79%, 28.21% and 22.66% of total production in 2012, according to the Canaries Banana Producers Association (ASPROCAN).

95% of the islands' 2012 output went to the Iberian Peninsula.

Other affected crops from the winds included tomatoes, tropical fruits and citrus.

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