A breath of fresh air is coming for the Salento area and for businesses affected by the serious plant disease caused by Xylella fastidiosa. The Regional Council, informs theCouncilor for Agriculture, Donato Pentassuglia, “has given the green light to an important budget change that allows us to use additional resources for this current year envisaged by the extraordinary plan for the regeneration of olive trees in Puglia (DI No. 2484/2020) to expand as much as possible the audience of beneficiaries who applied for the tender for the replanting of olive cultivars resistant to xylella and for the protection of monumental olive trees. This is the amount of 5 million euro for the interventions envisaged by art. 8 of the Plan, or "Safeguarding secular or monumental olive trees", and of 40 million for the interventions envisaged by art. 6 "Replanting infected area olive trees".
"Of these 40 million - specifies the councilor - we are thus able to scroll the ranking and allow about 1500 companies, who have applied individually or collectively, to invest in the reconstruction of the damaged olive patrimony and in the grafts of monumental plants. The preliminary investigations are being finalized and we are able to publish the concession decrees as soon as possible. I think this is a further important effort to support olive growers oppressed by bacterial disease and to give new recovery opportunities to our Salento area - Pentassuglia says. Today we acknowledge the need and the efforts we are all making, especially farmers".
