The anomalous heat is indeed anomalous and can never be considered a positive factor. But at least, this winter, it will have helped to give Italians economic relief: in fact, in January the prices of fresh vegetables fell by 3,1% compared to last year, in a month marked by temperatures that are decidedly too mild for the season (+ 1,4 degrees according to Istat data, in addition to drought in the countryside) that they anticipated the firstfruits and resulted in the simultaneous maturation of crops with an increase in supply.
According to Coldiretti, they have arrived on the counters over a month in advance the first fruits as a result of an anomalous winter marked by temperatures that sent crops into a tailspin throughout the peninsula, with, for example, the harvesting of broad beans in Lazio which started long before the traditional appointment on May XNUMXst, but also the arrival of strawberries in Puglia and the first asparagus in Veneto.
Upheavals have also occurred for seasonal vegetables, with production cycles that have overlapped: the result is the low prices paid in the countryside in some cases they do not even allow to cover production costs but also the risk that in the future there may be less availability of vegetables offered to consumers. Also worrying is the lack of water especially with the arrival of spring when the crops will need it to grow.
Nature is therefore on tilt and patchy along the Peninsula where there have been early blooms of mimosas in Liguria and almond trees in Sicily and Sardinia where fruit plants are starting to blossom, but in Abruzzo they are in the awakening phase, with an advance of about a month, plum trees, peaches while apricots in Emilia and Puglia already have buds. A crazy climate that certainly doesn't help crop planning in the countryside but also exposes the plants to the risk of frost in the event of a sudden drop in temperatures with consequent loss of production and work for an entire year.
The anomalous trend of this winter therefore confirms the climate changes taking place which manifest themselves with the highest frequency of extreme events and seasonal mismatches that upset normal crop cycles and impact on the harvest calendar and on the availability of the products that consumers put in their shopping carts. Agriculture - concludes Coldiretti - is the economic activity that more than all the others experiences the consequences of climate change on a daily basis with seasonal lags and extreme events that have caused a loss in Italy of over 14 billion euros over the decade between national agricultural production, rural structures and infrastructures.
