The ministerial decree to combat the grasshopper emergency in central Sardinia is in the pipeline, with an estimated 30,000 hectares devastated and the areas of Ottana and Guilcer particularly affected.
The national phyto-sanitary commission has approved the draft of the decree, says the regional councilor for agriculture Gabriella Murgia during the productive activities commission of the regional council.
The meeting was also attended by the commissioner of Laore Mimmo Solina and the representatives of agricultural associations, which served to take stock of the situation and to collect suggestions from the organizations.
The draft decree, explained Murgia, is "an important step forward that will allow us to plan preventive interventions on public and private land".
In the meantime, the process for the establishment of a project unit is proceeding to coordinate the interventions with extraordinary powers. Farmers are in trouble. “It is necessary to intervene immediately by plowing public and private land - reiterated Leonardo Salis, director of the provincial Coldiretti -. The operation must be done by September, when the grasshoppers lay their eggs, and completed by March, otherwise it will all be useless ".
Then there is the problem of compensation. "So far a paltry amount has been allocated for 2020, 400 thousand euros - reported the representative of Copagri Pietro Tandeddu -. For 2021, however, nothing is known. We need to think about a further intervention ". According to the Commissioner of Laore, about 2.5 million euros are needed .
(Unioneonline / L)
