Abandoned orchards in Sicily, a sharp drop in production in the north: climate change is threatening fruit and vegetable harvests in Italy with serious consequences for agricultural businesses. This could soon become a problem in Austria too. Because if the fields in the south dry out, our prices will rise.
Italian fruit and vegetable production generates an annual turnover of 16 billion euros.
Spread of plant diseases
But now weather conditions not only lead to the spread of plant diseases, but also negatively affect the size, quantity and shelf life of agricultural products, complains agricultural association Confagricoltura.
The skin of the fruit breaks open
In Piedmont in northern Italy, peaches and nectarines are being hit hard by the Sharka virus. In the Emilia Romagna region, there are complaints about Monilia, a fungal disease that attacks fruit such as cherry, peach and apricot trees due to the high humidity in the orchards. In Veneto, the cherry harvest has been hit by a plant disease that causes the skin of the fruit to crack due to high temperatures or very heavy rainfall.
“The situation is serious”
Southern Italy is being hit hard by months of drought. In Sicily, farmers are facing the worst water crisis ever, forcing entire orchards to be abandoned. The situation is also dire on the island of Sardinia and in the southern Italian Adriatic region of Puglia, as Confagricoltura reports.
Strong product decline
Also worrying is the significant drop in summer fruit consumption compared to previous years. Due to inflation and falling purchasing power, Italian families have limited their purchases of summer fruit, explains Michele Ponso, president of the Confagricoltura association.
Concerns about the tomato harvest
Tomato harvests, a key sector of Italian agricultural production with an annual turnover of 5 billion euros, have also been difficult this year. The tomato harvest that began in early August in the southern Italian Adriatic province of Foggia has proven to be one of the most difficult ever, as drought and record heat affected the development of the plants, farmers reported.
Climate change makes food significantly more expensive
Climate change is making some foods significantly more expensive. Global warming is promoting extreme weather conditions such as droughts and heavy rainfall.
“For orange juice, for example, it is not only the enormously increased prices that are a problem, but also the general availability of the juice,” Daniel Wüstner, Managing Director of the Vorarlberg fruit juice manufacturer Rauch, recently told the “Standard”. Even if high prices are paid, there is no guarantee that the required quantities will be available in full. In December 2023, the price monitor of the Chamber of Labor (AK) determined an average price per liter of orange juice of 2.99 euros in the online shops of Billa and Interspar. In December 2022, it was still 1.89 euros.
However, “since quantities of other fruits cannot easily be increased, consumers will most likely also face shortages and cost increases.”
The grape harvest was also affected
The effects of climate change have also had an impact on the Italian grape harvest, which Coldiretti says started earlier this year than ever before. It began in Sicily on July 25, two weeks earlier than usual due to the heat and lack of rain, factors that accelerated the ripening of the grapes, especially in the south.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
