A meeting with the prefect of Cagliari, to convey to Rome the alarm raised by the island's farmers and cereal growers, grappling with a crisis described as "a true social and democratic issue, no longer just an economic one."

The summit

Yesterday's summit was attended by a union delegation from Cia Cagliari Sud Sardegna, the administration of the Province of Medio Campidano, and a representative of the local mayors.

A meeting – it is reported – "born from the strong push and mandate received during the crowded CIA assembly in Serrenti last June 12, which focused on the fate of Sardinian cereal farming and the dramatic risk of depopulation of the inland areas of Medio Campidano."

Domino effect

At the conclusion, the participants expressed their "gratitude" to Prefect Paola Dessì "for the sensitivity and promptness with which she responded to our cry of alarm. We have handed over the concerns of our grassroots to the highest state authority in the area. If we don't reverse course immediately, the problem will no longer be the price of wheat, but the fact that there will no longer be farmers willing to plant it. The prefect understood the gravity of the situation we expressed and our fears about the domino effect that the collapse of the sector would have on the demographic and social stability of our rural communities."

They call for "full synergy across all institutional levels to implement extraordinary measures." They also call for "recognition of the strategic importance of wheat cultivation in Sardinia, not only as an economic sector, but as a fundamental safeguard against land degradation and abandonment."

Finally, the creation of a "common front against depopulation: mayors, the Province, and the unions have joined forces, demonstrating that protecting agriculture is the only true driving force for ensuring services, the economy, and a future for the island's inland areas."

The quotes

And another warning comes from Confagricoltura Sardegna: "With threshers now entering Sardinia's fields, durum wheat prices are plummeting, dropping to €27 per quintal, well below production costs. This scenario effectively foreshadows the arrival of one of the worst seasons ever recorded in recent years for the island sector," warns President Stefano Taras. "At the national level, the islands are experiencing the most critical conditions. The tsunami that is about to hit the sector was attempted to be contained in recent months with the establishment, by the Ministry of Agriculture, of the Single National Commission for Durum Wheat. It's a good idea, but it needs to evolve. "It must move from being a price-gathering tool to a supply chain governance tool," Taras observes. "In a market now heavily influenced by international prices, by growing financialization with the risk of speculation, by imports and the strategies of the milling industry, the price set by the Commission risks being perceived as a simple acknowledgement of existing conditions, without truly impacting the balance of power within the supply chain."

(Unioneonline)

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