“A situation now out of control”. Thus Ignazio Cirronis, regional president of Copagri Sardegna, defines the spread of grasshoppers in the center of the island: “Billions of insects invade the fields and leave the desert behind them; the actions implemented by Laore, with the collaboration of the Province of Nuoro, we must unfortunately underline, have not proved effective. The actions of prevention and fight were limited to the research of the places where the eggs were laid and to some treatment deriving from previous experiences ". Cirronis also underlines: “The plowing of uncultivated land was not carried out also because it makes sense if carried out in the autumn-winter period; there are no recognized products for organic farming, so much so that a producer from Bolotana, who is, among other things, president of the LAG Marghine, bought it at his own expense; the antagonistic insects are not known, much less who collects them, or multiplies them, and how they are or will be spread ”.
Hence the invitation to the group leaders of the regional council and to the members of the agriculture commission to urge the council “to overcome the delays in the preparation of the contrast plan envisaged by regional law no. 17/2021 ".
"The drafting of the Plan, for which a loan of 800 million euros has been arranged - adds Pietro Tandeddu, regional director of Copagri - is delegated to the Laore Agency which will make use of the collaboration of the University of Sassari, Department of Agriculture, Section of Plant Pathology and Entomology. But beyond the Plan, which has absolute priority for us as a preventive tool, there are significant delays in the investigation and provision of measures to compensate for the damage suffered by producers ".
"Given that no compensation has been provided for the damages in 2019 , the year of the reappearance of the grasshoppers - says Tandeddu -, in 2020, 400,000 euros were allocated for the compensation of the damages recorded in 2020, subsequently giving Laore the mandate to instruct the practices, according to pre-established criteria and methods, including the identification of the areas concerned that concern 19 municipalities, and consequently disburse the amount due to producers. No notice has been issued and therefore no application has been submitted and . Five months ago the LR n. 17 of 22 November 2021 has allocated an additional 2 million euros to repair the damage that occurred in 2021; only on 29 April the implementation resolution was approved giving a mandate, also in this case, to Laore to prepare the announcement and all the consequent documents. No refreshments have been approved for 2022 at the moment ".
