Dario Prestigiacomo
Less fruit on the counter throughout Italy, resulting in higher prices for pears, apples, plums and kiwis, among others. Among the consequences of the flood that hit Emilia-Romagna there are also the repercussions for the country’s agri-food chain: over 5 thousand farms operate on the flooded land, one of the most important districts in Italy. For this reason, industry experts estimate a 15-20 percent drop in fruit availability nationwide over the next few weeks.
Seasonal fruit
The estimate comes from Italmercati, the national network of wholesale markets, which expresses “strong concern about the consequences that the flood in Emilia-Romagna is generating in the life of local operators and which in the coming weeks will extend within the sector national agri-food sector and that of distribution”. The flood destroyed seasonal products such as pears, apples, plums, kiwis and vines, which were fully ripe “so there will be a general decrease in the quality and quantity of fruit and vegetables only starting from the next few weeks with a cost increase”, explains the president of Italmercati, Fabio Massimo Pallottini. “It is not yet possible to estimate the real damage caused by the heavy rains, but we expect a real earthquake in our sector over the next few weeks, with an increase in prices and a decrease in product availability”, Pallottini continues. .
The grain
According to Coldiretti, “the fruit harvest will be compromised for the next four or five years because the water left in the orchards has suffocated the roots of the trees until they rot with the need to explant and then replant entire plantations”. The organization is also concerned about the wheat supply chain: due to the flood, “this year the production of at least 400 million kilos of wheat was lost in the flooded lands, where about a third of the national soft wheat is obtained” . According to the organization, the flood “has devastated over 5,000 farms and farms in Romagna, one of the most agricultural areas in the country with a gross salable production of around 1.5 billion euros a year, not counting the supply chain where it works an avant-garde private and cooperative induced in the food processing and distribution strongly affected”.