It's not just the Covid Pandemic that upsets our lives. There is another pandemic underway, more insidious and less dramatically flashy than the health one, but with rather devastating economic and social effects that will be reflected over time. And it is the one that concerns the ongoing climate change. Raise the alarm Marco Salvi president of Fruitimprese and denounces the very serious damage that the frosts have caused in these days of early April to the country's fruit and vegetable production with peaks of up to 80% in stone fruit, already affected by extreme meteorological events last year.
The problem has taken on alarming implications in recent years.
The climatic alteration associated with the ongoing thermal increase, in fact, will increasingly modify (and is already doing so) the behavior of the main variables that affect production such as temperatures (increasing by 1,5-2,0 C until 2050) and rainfall (reducing as cumulative rainfall); moreover the intensification of uncertainties and unknowns will result in a increased vulnerability, including economic vulnerability, of companiesee with effects also on market trends Translated into numbers to better understand the dangers we are facing, just consider that it has been calculated that the decline in world agricultural production in 2080 will be between 190 billion dollars and 40 billion dollars a year.
Finally they open disturbing scenarios from the point of view of planetary social security for the availability and use of natural resources with a consequent increase in territorial disputes, migratory phenomena linked to the worsening of living conditions, tensions linked to access and control of energy resources.
Not by chance The European Commission, in spring 2008, recognized climate change as “a dangerous multiplier capable of exacerbating all other existing trends, tensions and instability factors”.
The earlier flowering periods of plants, the lengthening of the growing season of vines and changes in other natural cycles of plants in the calendar of cultivation activities (seeding, harvesting, etc.) indicate that farmers are already adapting to the new climatic conditions. But it seems evident that we cannot limit ourselves to the intuition or goodwill of individuals.
Returning to the Italian situation, the president of Fruitimprese underlines that for the current season the competent administrations are already quantifying the damages. “What is certain – he says – is that the 2021 campaign begins with the loss of large quantities of production and with certain negative repercussions on the balance sheets of fruit and vegetable production and commercial companies. The competitiveness of our businesses is once again put to the test - adds Salvi - and it is of little use to keep repeating that the sector has been 'heroic'.
Faced with the difficulties encountered in 2020 by fruit and vegetable exporters with the closure of many borders, the limitation of circulation at the Brenner Pass and attempts to boycott our products on some European markets, it is almost a miracle that the trade balance of our fruit and vegetables in 2020 closed with a +6% of exports (in value) and a -3% in volume and a positive balance of almost 664 million euros, even if the fact that imports in quantity for the second consecutive year should make everyone reflect exceeds exports, especially for citrus fruits and vegetables.
“Nothing to say if imports increase, but then let's not complain if we lose production surfaces and jobs. We have to understand - warns President Salvi - what role we want to carve out for ourselves on the international scene, if we want to compete or if we are destined to slow decline. The pandemic has taught us the importance of teamwork and has made Italians understand that fruit and vegetables are strategic products for our lives and well-being, but if we don't want to lose further positions in international competition we have to ask politics and institutions to support the sector with concrete measures and not just with declarations”.
To cope with climate change becomes essential hack the business protection law systemand with adequate insurance systems "perhaps using the resources of the Recovery Plan or those of the Rural Development of the CAP". But for Salvi it is also important to intervene for improve manpower management for large campaigns, make slimmer and facilitate the search for qualified workers for our companies, and prevent i foreign seasonal workers go to work in other countries because bureaucracy makes everything more complicated and difficult for us.
Then there is the problem of highest labor cost in Europe, a burden that directly threatens the competitiveness of businesses. These are all issues to address al National fruit and vegetable tableale (or through an alternative instrument), which we ask the minister to convene quickly, given the urgency of the problems related to the damage of the frosts and the start of the summer campaign".
In this perspective, the ecological and digital transition, strategic objectives of the PNRR and of the Farm2Fork strategy, also become a non-secondary topic. Salvi comments: "Considering that our companies have already embarked on the virtuous path of integrated production with low use of chemicals for many years, it must be recognized that the Green Deal and Farm2Fork strategy (with a 50% reduction in crop protection products and 20% in fertilizers) will have a direct impact on our work and on the future of our businesses. It is necessary to decide only on scientific bases and to carry out preventive impact assessments in order not to lose important shares of production and leadership in many varieties due to the impossibility of protecting our crops.
Otherwise we will find ourselves competing with countries that do not have the same constraints as us in terms of sustainability and guarantees for workers and consumers. Well then the digital transition, as long as you start with training and schools where you have to pay more attention to starting work”.
