22 Aug
Italian agriculture still gripped by contradictions. On the one hand, the resumption of the farm, on the other still billionaire damage
From a statistical point of view, that of 2022 seems to be, it is pointed out, the worst summer of the decade.
Italian agriculture is experiencing, as often happens, a time of great contradictions. On the one hand, fortunately, the statistics show the resumption of agritourism activities; on the other hand, the whole sector continues to be subjected not only to the repercussions of the costs of the means of production, but also to the consequences of bad weather.
According to what was announced by Coldiretti, with the latest departures, the Italians who decided to go on vacation in August would have risen to 22 million, an increase of 4% compared to last year. With particular attention, it is pointed out to agritourism activities or in any case related to the environment and nature. This, at least, is what emerges from a Coldiretti / Ixè analysis whose results underline that at least in the second part of the summer together with the sea, the alternative choices to get to know a so-called “minor” Italy from parks to countryside, from mountains up to the small villages that as many as 70% of Italians on vacation declare to visit them, even if only with a day trip. An attention that sees the farmhouses in the foreground. Destinations that, according to the Terranostra association, would be “very popular”. In the first row, therefore, are the approximately 25 thousand farmhouses in Italy. Everything appears to be the result of a renewed attention to long forgotten aspects of our country, but it is certainly also the result of attention to the economic aspects of the holidays to which Italian families must pay.
But everything has to deal, as mentioned, with the almost daily storms of rain, wind and hail that hit the Peninsula and therefore its countryside. Growers also speak of damages that exceed six billion euros. And that could still increase.
To suffer from the violent weather change – underlines Coldiretti – were mainly the seasonal crops at a time when the harvest and the harvest of summer fruit and vegetables are in progress and in autumn that of olives will begin. The harvests of the main Italian summer crops are thus jeopardized, after a similar fate has already occurred to the winter ones. At the base of everything there is also a technical motivation with strong economic implications. However, the rain that was expected to combat drought in the countryside must last a long time, falling steadily and not too intense, while strong storms, especially if accompanied by hail, increase the damage caused by dryness and heat.
From a statistical point of view, that of 2022 seems to be, it is pointed out, the worst summer of the decade with an increase of + 1300% between gusts of wind, water bombs, hailstorms and tornadoes with an impressive impact of changes. climatic. Hence, in fact, the billionaire damage bill. A situation that, Confagricoltura points out, certainly does not concern only Italy but all of Europe and must therefore be resolved with extraordinary measures. And it is in fact what has already been done on several occasions but which, by many, is still considered insufficient.
In the meantime, the contradiction that agriculture lives out of which we said at the beginning remains: a sector that produces environmental and economic wealth, productive diversification and a different culture of production, which finds itself having to deal with great results and as many great disasters.
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