SICILY ON IT KNEES DUE TO DROUGHT, MARETTI (LEGACOOP): “NATIONAL EMERGENCY, A STATE OF CALAMITY IS NEEDED”

«Increase in temperatures And shortage Of rain, they put agriculture in Sicily into crisis. From our cooperatives comes a desperate appeal as supply chains such as wine and fruit and vegetables, already severely affected by climate change and downy mildew, literally risk collapse”

Cristian Maretti (in the photo) president of Legacoop Agroalimentare underlines the dramatic situation experienced in the Sicilian countryside and not only given the declaration of the state of crisis and regional emergency which took place at the end of March by the Sicily Region with the forced reduction in the use of water and rationing even for domestic purposes . What weighs heavily – as the Sicilian cooperatives of Legacoop Agroalimentare tell us and as Agricole reports – is, yes, the drought but also the now structural water shortage in reservoirs.

«The crisis – continues Maretti – which affects the Sicilian invasions risks having dramatic repercussions on the island’s agricultural production».

In March alone, 300 millimeters of rain fell, but it was the seventh consecutive month with below-normal rainfall. On Earth Day – added President Maretti – the difficult situation in Sicily is an urgent invitation to ensure that sustainability is a style that characterizes everyone’s choices and actions as it has always been for cooperative supply chains.

The weight of agriculture in Sicily is important. It is among the Italian regions with the largest used agricultural surfaces (1,342 million hectares, 338 thousand destined for organic), it has 142,416 companies active in the agricultural sector which reach 160,629 (13% of the Italian total) with the entire agri-food sector , and a production value of 9.7 billion euros.

The Region estimated losses of between 1 and 2.7 billion euros depending on the rainfall that may or may not occur in the months of April and May. «With the drought, what is in crisis and suffering damage – added Maretti – is agriculture and livestock where, among other things, the lack of hay supplies and the absence of green pastures weighs heavily. This is why it is urgent that it be declarednational emergency in Sicily and compensatory measures capable of lifting the agri-food sector which is now on its knees are necessary on the part of the Region and the Government”.