Italian fruit orchards are at risk
of disappearing, having lost 140,000 hectares in the last 15
years, Coldiretti farmers' group said on Tuesday at Expo during
the Festival of Fruits and Vegetables.
Based on Istat data, that figure represents a 33% total
drop in fruit orchard land cultivated.
"Deforestation in the countryside is the result of an
invasion of foreign fruit. Importation in the last 15 years has
increased by 37% and reached nearly 2.1 billion kilos," said
Coldiretti President Roberto Moncalvo.
"Intervention is needed to promote consumption in the
domestic market and to support exportation, which has stayed at
largely the same levels as 15 years ago," Moncalvo said.
Lemon groves have been the hardest hit, with total hectares
cultivated having dropped 50% over the past 15 years, followed
by pears by 41%, peaches by 39%, and oranges by 31%, apples by
27% and mandarins and clementines by 18%.
Fruit makes up about 29% of Italy's overall annual
agricultural production.
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