It chose the most elegant place in Asti to celebrate its first 80 years at the same time as 96 other provincial offices in Italy: yesterday Coldiretti packed the Alfieri Theater with 600 farmers who came from all over the territory at the invitation of the president Monica Monticone ( first woman to head the Asti trade association).
A moment of remembrance, present and future conducted and moderated by the Coldiretti Asti journalist and press officer, Chiara Cane.
The memory was entrusted to a video in which all the battles that Coldiretti, the country’s largest agricultural trade association, fought to obtain mutual insurance and pensions for farmers and agrarian reform were retraced.
The present and the future have been entrusted to the words of some exponents involved in the key sectors for the Asti area (and beyond).
Like Alessandro Apolito who touched on the topic of customs codes, those which supervise the definition of Made in Italy: «It is not acceptable that in Italy, a country at the forefront of transparent labeling and from which Europe should only copy, precisely thanks to the community laws, it is possible to have products arrive from abroad and then put them on the market with the Made in Italy label only thanks to minimal processing which, obviously, does not change the quality of the origin”.
Gianfranco Torelli turned the focus on the wine sector: «In our province, wines were born that have made the history of Italian oenology and today we have an extraordinary legacy handed down from our grandparents which has evolved, as well as in production, also in wine tourism and agritourism that brings tourists and visitors to our UNESCO hills. But there are also many shadows over the sector: exports are subject to the consequences of wars and decisions between states that weigh on our budgets, such as the tax of 1.5 euros per bottle starting today imposed by Russia on wines from countries Born or the impracticability of the Suez Canal which increases the costs and times of shipments to Asian countries among our best customers. Obviously, Coldiretti can do nothing about these things, while it will continue its battle to defend our wine also from artificial sparkling wines.” Referring to flavored drinks that reproduce the aroma of sweet sparkling wines, they are “branded”, packaged and advertised as such, thus taking sales and credibility away from real sparkling wines.
We then went virtually to the stable, with Coldiretti vice-president Andrea Rabino, Anaborapi president. Who wants to immediately clear the field of a recurring accusation: «We are pointed out as the major source of air pollution but a scientific study has revealed that emissions from the livestock sector are quantified at 5% but are canceled out by the benefits produced by absorption of carbon dioxide from stable grasslands. Indeed, the balance is positive for the environment. Piedmont, then, is the most virtuous region in terms of low use of antibiotics for its native breeds. This is our present, while our future is the battle to bring the traceability of the meat supply chain also to the horeca channel, the catering one, as already happens for large-scale distribution and retail.”
Another sore point, indeed a very painful one in the province of Asti, is that of damage from wildlife. One of the best-known managers of Coldiretti Asti, Luigi Franco, today also a member of the ATC (Territorial Hunting Area) board of Asti, spoke about this.
«In the northern area, thanks to targeted and massive containment actions, we went from 300 thousand euros of damage reported in 2022 to 40 thousand last year. There was a great work by the teams, by the hunting guards who intervened on precise reports and a massive adherence by the farms to self-defense. In the South, however, this collaboration did not exist and then there the greatest damage is caused by roe deer for which there is different protection. Furthermore, the expansion of the red zone for swine fever has been added, which has slowed down the hunting of wild boars. Coldiretti, for example, has managed to pay, in the southern area, for the cell for the storage of wild boar carcasses awaiting PSA analysis. A sacrifice which, however, allows us not to completely block depopulation.” And then the problem of compensation to farmers: «Today the Region still has to give us the 2022 quotas that ATC has advanced in full to the farmers of the North Tanaro and half to those of the South. But we are unable to do the same with the year 2023, if the money does not arrive from the Region”.
We also talked about arable land and meadows with Felice Ferrero, Coldiretti representative in the consultation of this sector. «In Italy we import over 50% of wheat despite, for example Asti, having 65% of agricultural land usable for arable land and fodder. Land which, among other things, contributes to the absorption of carbon dioxide and to designing that much vaunted UNESCO landscape. Yet we are in difficulty. This is because our companies are subjected to constraints and above all to costs that do not make them at all competitive with those that work outside Europe and from which large industries buy. At the expense of quality.”
And then the BarberAmica project in the words of Secondo Rabbione, another vice president and director of the Wine Study Center based in San Damiano. «A supply chain project born in 2012 with the first 1800 quintals of grapes vinified with this brand. In 2023, despite 25% fewer deliveries due to the effects of drought and climate change, 20 thousand quintals were delivered. Having obtained the compensation of 1 euro per quintal (compared to 30-35 cents when we started) is not an arrival, but a starting point to arrive at a higher compensation because our Study Center is research but also economic development of companies.”
The more political issues were touched upon by the leaders of Coldiretti Asti, the president Monticone and the new director Giovanni Rosso.
«Farmers are architects of the territory, as well as food producers – underlined the president – and Coldiretti has the strength, heart and skills to be at their side. We have recently signed the new five-year supply chain contract with Novi for the supply of hazelnuts, we have established the first provincial cereal consultancy, we have been at the European tables to ask for the revision of the CAP, we were present at the Brenner Pass to demonstrate the importance of defending Made in Italy, we are present every day to provide services to our members. Last but not least, we also intervened to defend the agricultural companies of Asti, the capital, those located in the only rural green lung close to the city where the construction of the “yellow route” of the TSO is planned which would cut the properties and companies nullifying years of start-up for sustainable breeding and cultivation. Much has been done, much still remains to be done and we are ready to continue.”
The director’s brief speech is still about politics: «It’s true, we do politics. We sit at the tables of those in government to make our companies’ requests heard. This is our way of doing politics.”
(Photoservice Billi)
