Vouchers will be provided quickly to Sicilian farmers for the purchase of fodder for the animals. The measure to combat the effects of the drought, wanted by the president of the Sicilian Region Renato Schifani, provides for an allocation of 10 million euros and today received the favorable opinion of the third Productive Activities Commission of the Sicilian Regional Assembly. This last step will now allow the regional Agriculture Department to complete the procedure and publish the notice with which farmers will be able to submit applications.
Schifani: “Face this crisis together”
«I thank the Ars Productive Activities Commission for sharing the urgency and opportunity of this measure – says Schifani – in this way we keep a commitment made with Sicilian farmers. I have given instructions so that all the bureaucratic steps for the provision of benefits are quick. We are fully aware of the emergency and we stand alongside the operators of a fundamental sector for the entire economy of the island. The commitment of my government – underlines the President of the Region – will always be maximum, but I consider a synergy and sharing of efforts to be fundamental to protect and enhance Sicilian agriculture and face together this crisis due to the continuing drought”.
Labor taxes
The decree signed by the general director of the department, Dario Cartabellotta, provides that the contribution is paid according to the criterion of proportionality with respect to the damage suffered by the companies and that the fodder can be purchased directly from a list of suppliers made available by the Region. The application will be submitted through the Agricultural Assistance Centers, which will forward the request to the Agriculture Department. Farmers will then be able to collect the product at the Dittaino industrial area (Enna) or another point that will be defined after consulting the professional trade organisations.
The request to the EU
Recognize conditions of force majeure and exceptional circumstances for the entire territory of Sicily pursuant to EU regulation 2021/2116. This is what the regional government has decided to request from the European Union and the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Sovereignty due to the persistent drought that has been affecting the island for about a year, one of the most serious in the last fifty years.
