The green light for increased duties on Russian and Belarusian wheat is important to save Italian agricultural companies in a situation which last year saw cereal arrivals from Russia increase by 1000%, with a disruptive effect on the prices paid to farmers, which have collapsed below the level of production costs. This is what Coldiretti states, based on data from the Divulga Study Center, on the occasion of the green light from EU ministers to the measure against arrivals from Putin’s country to avoid the destabilization of the European agricultural sector, in force starting from the next 1st July.
“In 2023 there was an invasion of Russian durum wheat for pasta never recorded before in history, with almost half a million tons entering our country, reducing the price of Italian wheat by up to -60%. The invasion of wheat is also being recorded from Turkey, a country often the subject of triangulations on Russian wheat itself – he explains Mauro Bianco, board member of Coldiretti Piemonte with territorial delegation to the cereal sector -. A phenomenon that must absolutely be stopped to protect our companies who see their product underpaid.”
“The choice of EU ministers – they say Cristina Brizzolaripresident of Coldiretti Piemonte, e Bruno Rivarossa, confederal delegate – is a first step towards a decisive stop to unfair imports and a response to protecting farmers’ income, after the Agriculture Decree allocated an extra 20 million euros for wheat supply chain contracts. Precisely with respect to the latter, Coldiretti Piemonte, together with the North West Agricultural Consortiumgave birth to Great Piedmont through which over 7 thousand hectares of soft wheat have already been sown with the aim of making the most of local wheat production, guaranteeing increasingly positive remuneration to farmers and offering complete traceability and quality to consumers who are increasingly attentive to origin of the ingredients”.
