ROMA (ITALPRESS) – In view of the next Agrifish in Dublin, the President of ConfAgricoltura Massimiliano Giansanti and the representatives of the Copa-Cogeca of the countries most affected by extreme weather phenomena during the current summer highlighted to Commissioner Christophe Hansen and Minister Martin Heydon (in representation of the Irish Presidency) the widespread deterioration of European agriculture.
From a Copa-Cogeca analysis, the most affected countries are those in the south, center and west. Slovenia, Austria, France and Italy report the most serious consequences. Significant regional damages were also recorded in Spain, Hungary, Germany, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ireland and Romania.
Mainly damaging herbaceous crops: cereals, corn and oil seeds. With regard to corn, for example, Slovenia has recorded losses of 50-70%, France of 40% and Italy of 20-25%, with peaks of up to 70% in some areas not irrigated. Even potatoes, sugar beets and vegetables have accused a hard blow, especially in less irrigated areas. Fruit, grapes and olives have undergone heat stress, sunburn, early fall and a reduction in the size and quality of the products, with particularly serious consequences reported in Croatia, Italy, Slovenia and Spain. In Croatia the production of fruit, and grapes in particular, is estimated to fall by about 30%, while over 90% of olive groves do not have irrigation.
Zootechnics are also subject to increasing pressure. The reduction in the availability of pastures and forages has caused a sharp decline in the production of hay, with losses reaching at least 50% in Hungary and 30-90% in the affected areas of Germany. France, Slovenia, Spain and Ireland also report significant food shortages.
In some areas (including Italy), milk production has already decreased between 10% and 15%, while negative impacts have also been recorded on animal welfare. The need to buy feed is increasing production costs, feeding worries for the next winter.
This climate crisis, which is added to the already existing crisis of productive factors and to the strong increases in the costs of fertilizers and energy, is no longer just a question linked to the harvest of this summer; it is, in fact, generating productive, economic, inflationary and food security risks that will last in the coming months.
At the moment the answers to this situation are limited and predominantly national or regional. Copa-Cogeca’s leaders believe that these measures are inadequate, given the European dimension and the wide geographical diffusion of impacts. They therefore call for a more incisive and rapid response from the European Union with rays of action in the short, medium and long term. They serve: immediate support for the liquidity of agricultural enterprises, more flexible use of CAP instruments, more coordination at European level and more investment to adapt to climate change (more resilient varieties, water resources management, irrigation infrastructure and more effective risk management tools).
In the medium term, the hope is that Europe can overcome the structural constraints limiting farmers’ capacity to adapt. They would serve: interventions on the Nitrate Directives, the suspension of CBAM and the implementation of the Omnibus Food and Feed in order to streamline bureaucracy to facilitate concrete solutions, including easier access to effective plant protection products.
This summer has made it clear that extreme weather events are no longer exceptional phenomena. European agriculture needs a clear long-term political address and financial resources to build its resilience. The future CAP and the COM, together with the European Competitiveness Fund, must ensure the investment capacity necessary for adaptation, innovation, water resource management and risk management.
– photos of repertoire IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
