Severe weather has brought Sardinian agriculture to its knees: "January hasn't seen so much rain since 1965."

Direct damage amounted to over 30 million euros, with crops devastated by the fury of the bad weather and a long sequence of extreme weather events that marked the entire winter, culminating in the wettest January in the last 61 years.

The first damage assessment conducted by Coldiretti Sardegna following the passage of Cyclone Harry in January and the wave of severe weather in early February is dramatic. The toll could worsen further in the coming weeks.

For this reason, Coldiretti Sardegna has strongly urged the Region to "immediately declare a state of natural disaster, to proceed as quickly as possible with aid to the devastated farms and to establish a rapid emergency unit to quantify the losses and proceed immediately with aid."

"To date," Coldiretti explains, " artichoke production, the island's flagship crop this season, has been reduced by at least a third , with over 1,000 hectares lost due to flooding alone." Furthermore, "citrus groves have been devastated, vegetables have rotted in the fields even before harvest, farm structures have been damaged or destroyed by winds, cereals and durum wheat are at risk of having the worst season in ten years, plantings have stalled, and fodder is in dire straits . This picture," the association emphasizes, "reveals an agriculture brought to its knees not only by direct damage, but also by the consequences for the entire related industries."

To see the gravity of the situation firsthand, Coldiretti Sardinia brought together regional leaders, the Regional Council, provincial directors, and numerous members from across the island to the Samassi countryside, one of the areas most affected by the severe weather. This on-the-ground discussion reinforced the call for immediate and extraordinary intervention from the Region.

"We are facing a dramatic and unprecedented situation," says Battista Cualbu, president of Coldiretti Sardinia. "The initial estimates already speak of over €30 million in direct damages, but this is still a partial estimate. Businesses are on their knees and cannot wait any longer. We are calling for the immediate declaration of a state of natural disaster across the entire region, the start of on-site inspections, and rapid compensation to allow businesses to continue operating."

Luca Saba , director of Coldiretti Sardinia, highlights the climate paradox affecting the island: "Just a few months ago, we were battling one of the most severe droughts in recent years; today we find ourselves with submerged fields and water flowing into the sea. This shows that climate change can no longer be addressed with emergency measures. Without structural investments in water infrastructure, leak recovery, reservoirs, and interconnections, we will continue to pay a very high price, first for the lack of water and then for its excess."

In light of the extensive damage suffered by the island's agricultural sector, Coldiretti Sardegna therefore emphasizes " the need to activate all the exemptions provided for by national and European legislation, starting with the recognition of force majeure on CAP commitments , crop rotations, and sowing operations impossible to carry out due to persistent rains, as well as the extension of authorizations for new vineyard plantings in cases of force majeure."

(Unioneonline/lf)