Coldiretti in the streets against grain speculators

From Bari to Palermo, from Rovigo to Florence, passing through Cagliari, Coldiretti farmers have been in the streets since this morning to say enough is enough to international speculation on wheat, which crushes the national product below production costs, forcing farms to work at a loss. Twenty thousand of them, according to the association, took to the streets carrying placards and empty bags with the tricolour to denounce a system that, they say, is destroying agricultural income.

The protest comes as the price of durum wheat has plummeted to 28 euros per quintal, a 30 per cent drop in one year, back to pre-war levels in Ukraine, while production costs have increased by 20 per cent since 2021. A kilo of pasta today fetches EUR 2, but farmers are paid just 28 cents per kilo of wheat.

To tackle the situation Coldiretti proposes a seven-point plan. The first request is the establishment of a single national durum wheat commission, to overcome local commodity exchanges. At the same time, the association demands that Ismea immediately publish the average production costs, in transparency and giving a certain reference for controls. The farmers who took to the streets are also asking for an increase up to 40 million euros in the Ministry of Agriculture's support for multi-year supply chain contracts, to cover 400 thousand hectares out of 1.2 million hectares of total production.

Farmers want a ban on unfair imports, starting with wheat treated with substances banned in Europe, such as Canadian glyphosate or pesticides and fungicides used in Turkey and Russia. To this must be linked the obligation to indicate the origin of wheat on pasta packages throughout Europe, as is already the case in Italy, so that consumers can choose what they put on their plates. Also necessary, says the association, is more investment in research, innovation and support for technological transition, including through the direct involvement of Crea. Lastly, it calls for a national plan for storage and reservoirs, also with new contributions to support irrigation investments in the cereal sector.

"It is necessary to give dignity to farmers, respecting the law on unfair practices that prohibits selling below production costs," said Coldiretti president Ettore Prandini. "It is also necessary to review the system of local commodity exchanges, which must be overcome with a single national commission for price formation. And to farmers we give a clear indication: supply chain contracts are the tool to defend income'.