The Consortium for the protection of Sicilian Red Orange PGI invites the minister Francesco Lollobrigida to visit the territories of the Sicilian Red Orange PGI in the provinces of Catania, Enna and Syracuse, to see with their own eyes the severity of the effects of Drought and try to find solutions that will allow Sicilian citrus growers and farmers to face these next summer months”.
The Consortium’s invitation comes from president Gerardo Diana.
“The words pronounced by Minister Lollobrigida on drought, certainly said badly, hurt us and leave us amazed. I had the opportunity to appreciate Minister Lollobrigida in some of his initiatives and for this reason it is sad to hear from him that: ‘fortunately this year the situation linked to drought affects some regions of the South much more’, says Diana,
“We ask Minister Lollobrigida, now more than ever, to take on Masaf’s commitments, as already done for the emergency that hit Emilia Romagna last year,” adds Diana. “In particular, we need concrete and immediate responses from the Government on the issue of drought and the distribution of irrigation water and on the issue of liquidity and access to credit for companies. We ask to cancel all payments of consortium fees and, furthermore, contributions for electricity bills as was done during Covid”, concludes Diana.
Consortium vice-president Salvatore Scrofani also intervenes on Minister Lollobrigida’s statements: “The cancan generated by the minister’s unhappy words must not distract from the real problems. Farmers need answers and not fan the flames of controversy. I invite Minister Lollobrigida to come to Sicily to personally realize the gravity of the situation in which Sicilian agriculture and citrus cultivation have sunk due to drought and due to the lack of interventions on the structures of the institutions at various levels over the last twenty years. Enough talking, we are already late and measures must be implemented to stem a very serious crisis”, concludes Scrofani.
