According to Coldiretti estimates, the drought caused the loss of 70% of the harvest
The first load of hay to feed the animals has arrived in Sicily, but the situation remains dramatic. Hundreds of farms that are no longer able to feed their animals due to the lack of water and fodder burned by the drought, with the serious risk of seeing them die.
The situation in the Sicilian countryside is now dramatic, where the first load of the million and a half kilos of hay donated by has arrived Coldiretti, Italian Agricultural Consortiums, Bonifiche Ferraresi, Aia (Italian Breeders Association) and FedAna (Federation of National Breed Associations) to help the island’s stables, literally on their knees due to the drought.
Drought made the livestock situation in Sicily dramatic
The fodder is transported and distributed to the companies most in difficulty – underlines Coldiretti – but it is only a partial aid which alone will not be able to save cows and sheep that are now exhausted throughout the region, starting from the internal areas, now burnt with wheat fields and pastures completely dry due to the continuing lack of rain. Coldiretti Sicilia is committed at this stage to also bringing water to the areas most in difficulty.
According to estimates, a 70% drop in the harvest
Current estimates speak of a 70% drop in the harvest, but if the situation persists there is a real risk of a real zeroing. Farmers are forced to buy products outside the region at costs that are difficult to sustain, given the serious crisis.
But the concern now concerns all sectors of the Sicilian agri-food sector, the victim of years of inability to invest in an infrastructure system capable of not letting water waste and capable of guaranteeing companies’ survival.
Compounding the situation is the fact that last year one liter of water in five disappeared in Italy with a drop in water availability of 18%, which weighed on the start of 2024 which was classified as the hottest ever, with a temperature 1.84 degrees higher than the historical average, according to Coldiretti analysis on Isac Cnr data.
