Agriculture receives 400 million in aid from the Calamity Decree

Agriculture will receive 400 million out of a total allocation of 1.1 billion. Of these 400 million 380 will go to animal husbandry, infrastructure and fishing and 20 to the Agricat fund. The estimate made by Fedagripesca-Confcooperative gives a snapshot of the intervention put in place by the government to support the economy of the areas hit by the wave of bad weather that culminated in the passage of Cyclone Harry.

Agriculture and fisheries will go around 36% of the entire budget allocated by the executive. An important ceiling that will concern support to businesses to protect employment and encourage the resumption of activities and that is in fact judged positively by Italian agricultural organisations even if there is no lack of concern about the timing and the way in which the support will be made available.

'The government's allocation is timely and positive,' commented Fedagripesca-Confcooperative president Raffaele Drei. The hope now is that the procedures for allocating the contributions will be swift. The fear is that many companies affected by the floods, as has already happened in the past in Romagna, will not be able to restart'.

For Coldiretti, a comment on the measure is still premature. While waiting to know the details," they explain to Coldiretti, "it is essential to intervene in a timely manner to support the farms affected, because in many territories the holding of entire strategic supply chains of Made in Italy is at stake. "Just think of the citrus fruits in Sicily and Calabria," Coldiretti stressed in a note, "where the risk is to compromise one of the excellences of the national food industry. From 18 January to date there have been almost 120 extreme weather events including cloudbursts and wind storms that have hit Sicily, Sardinia and Calabria, according to an analysis of Eswd data. We need to minimise bureaucracy and ensure that resources reach businesses quickly. The priority must be to put farmers in a position to start up again immediately'.

"We appreciate the timeliness of the measures," added Confagricoltura vice-president Sandro Gambuzza, "a sign of attention on the part of the government. In addition to the measures aimed at suspending environmental prescriptions, we find it interesting to have foreseen and established the role of insurance experts specialised in estimating catastrophic damage. It is also important to have provided for the possibility of financing hydraulic and hydrogeological risk prevention interventions, and the strengthening of emergency procedures in this direction. It remains to be understood the adequacy of the resources allocated on the basis of both the reports of agricultural enterprises in relation to the damage suffered and the areas that will be delimited by the Regions. Once the emergency is over, it is necessary to envisage an organic plan for prevention'.