At a time when the environment finds renewed prominence with the establishment of the ministry of ecological transition, the farmer rises to guardian of the territory in the Senate. In reality, a hypothesis that has already been in Palazzo Madama since last November and which sees the entire Lega group signatory to a bill that should precisely make the farmer, on his initiative, the guardian and guardian of the territory. Obviously with incentives and rewards. The issue will be addressed this week in the Agriculture Committee, in the drafting session.
The starting point is the recognition that "the farmer is rooted in his territory, in the land he works: he knows their problems, their vulnerabilities and critical issues, structural weaknesses and knows how to prevent and reduce the damage caused, every year and in a wholly predictable way, by disasters that "ordinarily" strike those territories, those lands; he knows well, too, how to solve problems once they arise. The farmer therefore performs a primary task, not only agricultural, but environmental and ecological”, explains Gianpaolo Vallardi, first signatory of the proposal.
Therefore, it is envisaged that the regions and autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano are the institutional entities with the constitutional task of qualifying farmers as custodians of the environment and the territory through the publication of special notices which establish, among other things, the criteria and methods of expression of interest by farmers, understood as agricultural entrepreneurs, single or associated, as well as how cooperative societies in the agricultural and forestry sector. These farmers, if they ask to be registered in the appropriate lists held by the regional departments responsible for agriculture, must undertake to carry out works of conservation, protection, maintenance and prevention of the territories where they operate as farmers.
In particular: a) land maintenance through activities of arrangement and protection of the agricultural, mountain and forest landscape and cleaning of the undergrowth, as well as care and maintenance of the hydraulic and hydrogeological structure and the defense of the soil and vegetation from adverse weather conditions and forest fires; b) conservation of rural biodiversity understood as the conservation and enhancement of local crop varieties; c) breeding of animal breeds and the cultivation of local vegetable varieties; d) conservation and protection of plant formations and monumental trees; e) contrast to the abandonment of agricultural activities and soil consumption.
Regions and autonomous provinces may provide for the recognition of specific reward criteria, including the reduction of the taxes of their respective competence.
