2/3 of Italy and of the cultivated fields along the Peninsula are dry due to the drought of the last few weeks and, according to a Coldiretti analysis, the damage caused to crops and livestock amounts to over 2 billion. At least 10 Regions, according to what Ansa learns, are about to present the request for a state of natural disaster to the Ministry of Agricultural Policies. The measure envisages, for companies, suspension of mortgage installments, blocking of contribution payments and access to the Fund for compensation for damages.
From North to South there would be at least 10 Regions that have already started the checks and are therefore about to request the declaration of a state of natural disaster from the Ministry of Agriculture to activate the National Solidarity Fund. In particular, the declaration triggers the suspension of bank mortgage installments of agricultural enterprises and the blocking of the payment of welfare and social security contributions.
Taking into account the exceptional drought, the benefits of the fund are also extended to farms that could take out insurance, thanks to an amendment to the Mezzogiorno decree now in the Senate. The Coldiretti data is alarming: Lake Garda is just 34,4% filled in volume while the Po river at the Becca bridge in Pavia is about 3,5 meters below hydrometric zero. It is increasingly difficult for farmers to resort to emergency irrigation to save crops. In Lombardy, on mountain pastures, there is a 20% drop in grass available to livestock. The losses caused by drought in Lombardy alone amount to about 90 million euros.
