The drought on the one hand and the increase in production costs, on average by 50%, on the other. These are the two main causes that should determine a drop in olive production estimated at 30% with a high risk of closure for one farm out of ten and, certainly, an increase in the price of extra virgin bottles for consumers. . The alarm comes from Coldiretti and Unaprol on the day the olive harvest began in Sicily. Instead, save the quality. And it is also for this reason that Ettore Prandini, president of Coldiretti, is asking for a strong intervention to relaunch a national production of olive oil which is also endangered by Nutriscore ”.
What happened? “A devastating drought never seen in the last 70 years that has put the olive groves under water stress, damaging the flowering first and then the buds, especially in those areas where it has not been possible to intervene with emergency irrigation to quench the thirst and refresh the plants. But several companies have decided not to intervene due to the high costs of fuel, electricity, service and products to support the nutrition of the land ”, explains David Graneri, president of Unaprol.
According to estimates by Coldiretti and Unaprol, the campaign should amount to around 330 million kilos of oil produced. Graneri again: “The decline is widespread in Southern Italy, especially in the regions most suited to olive growing such as Puglia and Calabria, which alone account for about 70% of national olive production. Especially in Puglia there is a risk of a cut of up to 50% “. first due to unseasonal frosts in spring and then drought, while Salento continues to lose ground – Coldiretti and Unaprol denounce – destroyed by Xylella, which has burned a potential equal to 10% of national production. In Lazio and Tuscany and in the rest of the central regions there is a leopard-spotted trend which in any case should close with the plus sign with an estimated increase of between 10 and 20%. On the other hand, it seems to be better in the rest of Italy with the North, which marks an increase in production of around 40-60% between Liguria, Lombardy and Veneto.
According to Prandini “Italy must do everything to block the Nutriscore, a misleading, discriminatory and incomplete labeling system that paradoxically ends up excluding healthy and natural foods such as olive oil from the diet”. And Graneri adds: “It is no longer possible to postpone a national strategic plan for olive growing that puts at the center the companies that are on the market, producing income and employment, in addition to the recovery of the many abandoned olive groves that must be renewed to restore oxygen and hope to the territories. “.