Serious drought damage to crops in the province of Taranto: wheat, citrus fruits, olive trees, vegetable gardens and vineyards are the most affected. This is what emerges from the monitoring conducted by Confagricoltura Taranto on the damage caused by the drought that has been plaguing the area for months now. The situation is further aggravated by the lack of water supply for irrigation use, due to the lack of supply from Basilicata and the continuous breakdowns on the systems and pipelines managed by the Consorzio di Bonifica, Arif e Acque del Sud. “The situation is alarming and requires immediate interventions – highlights the president of Confagricoltura Taranto Luca Lazzàro – The drought is bringing our crops to their knees and, consequently, the entire agricultural economy of the province. It is essential to guarantee the necessary water supply and support our farmers in this serious moment difficulties. Without concrete and timely action, we risk losing a large part of our agricultural heritage.” “The social and economic stability of our rural communities – he also said – depends on the ability to face and overcome this emergency”.
The absence of water for irrigation is affecting all the territories served by the former Stornara and Tara Reclamation Consortium and by Arif, including the municipalities of Laterza, Ginosa, Castellaneta, Palagianello, Palagiano and Massafra. In the eastern part of the province, including Taranto and the south-eastern municipalities, the situation is particularly critical. Here, the groundwater wells, increasingly less rich in water, show a worrying increase in salinity. Damage to citrus groves in the Ionian belt from Ginosa to Massafra has already been recorded since March 2024, but today it is clear that drought and lack of irrigation are causing widespread damage to various crops. The crops most affected are therefore wheat with consequent very low yield per hectare; citrus and fruit trees affected by fruit drop; olive tree, fruit drop in fruit setting; horticultural crops, crop loss or failure to plant due to lack of water; vineyards (wine and table), there is fear of damage exceeding fifty percent compared to the usual yields, with small and sparse bunches.
