For the Government, the drought in Sardinia – with months and months without rainfall – is a problem, but not a calamity. "Our requests have been underestimated, and we cannot accept this. The failure of the Institution to declare the exceptional adverse weather conditions is a point on which we cannot and do not want to compromise. The national executive must assume its responsibilities".

The reaction of the regional councilor for Agriculture, Gian Franco Satta, is furious after finding on the table the response of the Ministry regarding the resolution of the Council of Alessandra Todde with the request for a "declaration of exceptional adverse weather conditions, in reference to the period between November 2023 and the month of June 2024".

The general management of the ministry led by Francesco Lollobrigida writes: «Having analyzed the documentation received, the national solidarity fund [...] as provided for by legislative decree 102 of 2004 provides for compensatory interventions exclusively in the case of damage to production, structures and production plants not included in the Agricultural Risk Management Plan. (...) The productions eligible for subsidized agricultural insurance would be limited, which is why the Ministry does not believe it can follow up on the proposal».

Satta accuses: «A situation that is clear and aggravated by increasingly extreme weather conditions, considered an insufficient condition to choose, responsibly, to offer support and assistance to an Island, to a Region, to an entire sector, to operators in the sector and their families who live off agriculture, fueling the economy of Sardinia and Italy as a whole. A position that, respectful of the Institution, we cannot, do not want, nor should we passively accept».

The Ministry suggests activating the AgriCat fund - damage to agricultural production - to cover "losses within the limits established by the current plan for managing risks in agriculture, with reports to the managing body presented directly by farmers affected by the drought. However, downplaying the impact that the phenomenon has had on production, on the production cycle and on Sardinian producers is a cost that we cannot sustain, already harassed by the aforementioned drought".

The Region has promised: «We will do everything in our power to highlight this lack of attention, euphemism to call it that, and bring to the attention of the national Government a situation that must be addressed and "worked on" with all possible resources at all possible levels».

(Unioneonline/E.Fr.)

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