“Siena will be the world capital of olive oil”: the undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture Patrizio La Pietra was not exaggerating in his statement.
What he said gives a sense of the magnitude of the event which will be held from 28 to 30 May when the Santa Maria della Scala will host the General States of olive growing. Taking part will be the delegates of the world olive oil council, which represents states from all over the world, mostly belonging to the Mediterranean area, which are producers of more than 90% of green gold.
The recognition is not only towards our city, which will be the setting for the initiative, but also for Italy which has waited for decades before welcoming this meeting of global stature.
“For Masaf it is an important recognition of the quality work done by Italy – said La Pietra –. The country has waited for decades to host the Council committee.” Thirteen thousand of the three hundred thousand tons of Italian oil in 2023 will come from Tuscany.
“In 2023 – added La Pietra – 300 thousand tonnes of oil were produced in Italy. These are higher numbers than 2022 but lower than pre-covid. The Xylella problem, which has particularly affected Puglia, has had a major impact. This is why we are thinking about how to regenerate the olive growing system of that region.” And again, La Pietra continues: “We import one million tons of oil. And 60% is re-exported.” The undersecretary then anticipated “that a national olive growing plan will be discussed” to “discuss a topic that is stuck ten years ago, when both the climatic and geopolitical situation was different”
During the four days the various national and international actors present will define future strategies in policies concerning oil. There will be moments in which the various stakeholders will be able to get to know our city and the area, with dinners and aperitifs in the districts and a tour of our olive growing companies, which are synonymous with excellence.
Marco Crimi
