If it is not yet a national crisis, we are close. Italian agriculture is once again in the fight against drought. That phenomenon which has become structural and which has caused Italian companies to lose 14 billion euros in the last ten years. The governor of Veneto Luca Zaia declared a state of water crisis throughout the region, valid until 15 May. The risks for the next few weeks, with the start of summer, are very serious and do not spare any region.
And after the alarm from Coldiretti, it will soon be discussed in Parliament as well. Before Easter, the President of the Chamber's environmental commission, Ermete Realacci, presented a question asking the government for concrete initiatives. The fight against the lack of water and the protection of production once again become the main points of a recurring controversy. The initiatives in progress will also be linked to the environmental situation in Italy and the state of the hydrographic basins.
Zaia described the situation of the Piave, the Adige and the main watercourses of his region. But the reasons for the frequent scarcity of water for the agricultural sector are structural. Deeper down, in the country of a thousand productions, of IGT and IOP brands, investments useful for not suffering from drought have gone slowly. The infrastructures need to be strengthened, even for the many taken by governments and regions. Very close, but somewhat underestimated, the link with climate change that affects production cycles and harvests.
Coldiretti has consulted the data of the Ucea, the research unit for climatology. For example, the monitoring of the Po was very serious with anomalies of about 2 meters of water less than in the same period of 2016. It is known that the climate of our peninsula is tropicalizing. How to explain the 14 billion euros of agricultural damage in ten years? Agriculture, drought, climate are an unstoppable phenomenon. Water rationing cannot be done in the countryside, say the farmers' associations, where the solutions concern projects, construction sites, public investments.
And then, what contradiction do you experience if on the one hand agricultural Made in Italy is encouraged and on the other it is difficult to manage "seasonal lags"? If rainfall fell by 53% in one year, the context we are facing - explains Realacci - demonstrates even more the importance of giving priority to the climate challenge. That it really is a priority for a vital sector of the Italian economy.
