Agriculture, coop Alliance: “alarm for pears, harvest collapses to -80%, damages of 800 million”

An unprecedented crisis has hit Italian pears. 70% of the harvest is missing, which reaches -80% in the case of the Abate varieties. Asian bugs, brown pear spots and the spring frosts that have plagued fruit growing for two years are the sworn enemies of the Italian pear. The economic damage to this supply chain, between direct production and induced activities, is between 700 and 800 million euros, in addition to the serious impact in terms of lost working days for seasonal workers. A real débâcle for the farmers of Emilia Romagna – where production is concentrated – who are exhausted and appeal to the institutions to act quickly after the declaration of a state of natural disaster due to frosts. “The timing of the policy is too long and instead they are decisive for saving this supply chain” says Davide Vernocchi, president of Apo Conerpo and coordinator of the fruit and vegetable sector of the Alleanza Cooperative Agroalimentari, which represents over 900 cooperatives with a turnover of almost 9 billion euros. Among other things, farmers do not yet know the extent of the interventions. “Add to this the fact that to date research has not been able to find a solution against adversities such as the Asian bedbug and the brown spot” complains Vernocchi explaining that the Asian bug still represents “a great scourge that we have been carrying for ten years. and despite the natural antagonist, the samurai wasp, has been ‘launched’ on the orchards for two years already, the necessary balance has not yet been reached to guarantee acceptable levels of cultivation “. Not to mention the brown spot, a weed fungus that is increasingly virulent due to the high summer temperatures. Italian pear prices skyrocket on the markets from + 72% to + 28% and import boom increases “In 2019 the invasion of Asian bugs caused hundreds of millions of euros in damage to production and related industries: we thought and hoped it was a annus horribilis but it did not happen “adds Vernocchi. “In the meantime, we are witnessing important uprooting of orchards, it is a highly risky supply chain”. In the middle of the pear season, therefore, which runs until next spring, there is a significant importation of pears from Spain, Portugal, in particular the Rocha pear and the Conference pear from the Netherlands, pears will also arrive in the spring. from Chile and South Africa “both for the lack of product and, consequently, also for the prices of Italian pears which have reached the stars on the wholesale markets (with increases from 72% to 28% depending on the variety). And to say that the made in Italy pear alone accounts for 30% of European production and is the fourth most exported fruit and vegetable product abroad for the Italian system. (by Cristina Armeni)