Climate crisis hitting Italian fruit production hard

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 7 - The climate crisis is having a big impact on Italian food production, with yields down 27% this year with respect to the average for the previous five years, farmers association Coldiretti said on Tuesday.
    In a report presented at the Macfrut fair in Rimini, Coldiretti said Italy's 2021 fruit harvest was the worst so far this century.
    It blamed a long series of extreme weather events, which experts say are more frequent and intense because of human caused climate change.
    These included drought in the spring, violent storms and floods.
    It said pear yields were hit especially hard, falling 69% this year with respect to the average for the last five, while peach production was down 48%.
    It said some farmers lost their whole harvest this year because of the climate emergency.
    Coldiretti said Italy's fruit-and-vegetable sector employs 440,000 people, 40% of the nation's agriculture jobs. (ANSA).