(ANSA) - Milan, July 28 - 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.
Italian fruit orchards in danger, Coldiretti says at Expo
Farmers' group says orchards have diminished by 33%