“Heat and water shortage put at risk, on the eve of the irrigation period, the production of Made in Italy excellences such as extra virgin olive oil Tuscan IGP, Garda Dop, Brisighella Dop or Bari Dop Terra, and it is therefore need a national plan invaded to save Italian olive growing from the dramatic consequences of climate change”.
This is the warning of Unaprol, which denounces how, in Italy, nearly 90% of rainwater is lost, although it can become a valuable resource during times like the one we are currently experiencing.
At the turn of July and August the olive groves need water. The situation has become critical at this time, especially in the central and northern regions, from Toscana atEmilia Romagna to Veneto e Lombardia, where the rains have been missing for months.
Slightly better picture in Noon, the beating heart of national olive production, where trees are more used to resisting high temperatures for longer periods. But even here interventions are needed to allow companies to acquire irrigation systems.
"There is an urgent need for structural interventions to guarantee a greater water supply to the olive groves in order to conserve, in addition to the quality, also a good quantity of product - he explains David Granieri, president of Unaprol (in the picture) -. Climate change requires decisive interventions that can no longer be postponed, to help farmers face a situation that risks compromising not only this olive growing season, but also the future of Italian olive growing".
