The dry river Po between Parma and Reggio.
Photo by Andrea Fasani
From the lakes to the Po, to the smaller watercourses, with the collapse of national water reserves due to drought, the fields are at the end and have already lost on average, according to Coldiretti, one third of national production from fruit to corn, from wheat to rice, from milk to clams.
According to the organization, 46% of farmers are at risk from drought, for a total of 332,000 businesses.
In Italy there are already drops of 45% for corn and fodder, 20% for milk, 30% for durum wheat, 30% for rice, 15% for fruit but also 20% for mussels and clams killed by the lack of water exchange in the Po Delta, an area where the areas of 'dead water' widen, assaults by insects and grasshoppers with tens of thousands of hectares devastated.
As for the damages estimated by
Coldiretti, they exceed 3 billion euros.