It is an emergency in the countryside due to the crazy climate that has decimated the crops and the low prices paid to production which in many cases do not even cover the production costs, which have increased exponentially with the risk of abandoning entire territories. This is what Coldiretti Puglia states, with the confirmation coming from the Bank of Italy’s report on regional economies, based on the preliminary estimate of Istat’s agricultural economic accounts, according to which the growth in production costs continued in 2023 of agricultural businesses, although with a lower intensity than in 2022.
In 2023, despite the climate threat with 96 extreme events in 1 year and a complex international scenario, Apulian agriculture and agri-food gained 24% more in gross salable production which came close to 4 billion euros – he adds Coldiretti Puglia – despite losing 34% in quantity of production, thanks to the excellent performances of the olive and oil sectors and fruit and vegetables which made it recover ground compared to the previous agricultural year, although .
The increase in value of the Apulian agri-food sector was mainly determined by the performance of the olive and oil sector, with the olive harvest in Puglia growing by 50% compared to the previous year, compared to the national and global one which collapsed, causing the prices of extra virgin olive oil to skyrocket by +49.3%. Positive performances in value also for fruit and vegetables, with table grapes which, net of the drop in quantities, gained in terms of value, but in general Apulian vegetables and fruit recorded average prices in the countryside that were better than previous years due to the decrease of quantities, while one fruit in ten has disappeared from the tables of citizens who have cut purchases (-10%) which have fallen to their lowest levels since the beginning of the century, based on Cso Italy data, according to which consumers have reduced the quantities of watermelons, melons by 15%, oranges by 14%, strawberries by 5% but the cut also affected vegetables (-6%).
But 2023 was a year to forget in Puglia due to the harvest which paid the price for the extreme events and attacks of downy mildew that characterized 2023, for which the quantities fell on average by 32% with peaks of up to 90% in some areas, while production costs have increased exponentially. The surge in the cost of hollow glass for bottles, which has seen an increase of 58% in the space of 18 months, puts at risk the competitiveness of Italian wine on the national and foreign markets where for the first time after more than decade the sales of Made in Italy wine fell in value (-1%), after Coldiretti and Filiera Italia had highlighted the anomaly in reference to the start of the investigation by the Competition and Market Guarantor Authority for a alleged agreement restricting competition in the sale of glass bottles.
In this context – concludes Coldiretti – it is important in the Pnrr to increase the funds for the agri-food sector intended for agreements in the supply chain to save the spending of Italian families and support the country’s food supply. A unique opportunity, which should not be wasted to grow and guarantee a more equitable distribution of value along the supply chain, from producer to consumer.
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