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News

Italy: another year under the threat of drought?

29/04/2020 - François-Xavier Branthôme - 2020 Season - Lire en français
Despite the rains that fell after mid-April, fields in the regions of the Po valley in northern Italy are recovering only slowly from the drought that prevailed throughout the winter and did not allow the water reserves to replenish to sufficient levels. Rainfall has been practically halved since the beginning of 2020, which is currently classified as the hottest year since 1800, with temperatures that have been 1.52°C higher than average. As a consequence, the level of the Po river is close to that of August and Lake Maggiore is at barely more than half its usual level at this time of year, while lakes Como and Iseo are about a quarter below their normal filling levels...

 These are the conclusions of a report drawn up by the Coldiretti on the basis of data from the Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences and the Italian National Research Council (CNR-ISAC), which also reports a serious situation in the South of the country, where a filling shortfall of 122 and 102 million cubic meters has been recorded for the Puglia and Basilicata reservoirs, respectively, compared to the same date last year. The situation is also tense in Calabria and Sicily.

According to the Italian press, farmers have already been forced to take emergency irrigation measures to save corn and beet crops, while other crops, including processing tomatoes, are under water stress. “If there is no major change in the near future, the water needed to grow crops will be lacking on many farms, with a risk to the country's food supply at a time of possible tension in the context of limited trade movements caused by the coronavirus crisis.”

Drought has become the most important adverse parameter for agriculture in recent years, with extreme episodes that have caused damage to Italian agricultural production, structures and infrastructures, for a total amount that can be estimated at more than EUR 14 billion over the last decade.
“Although Italy enjoys a relatively rainy climate, the infrastructure deficiencies are such that only 11% of rainfall is managed through the system of reservoirs, and a major shift-up is required in preventive measures” says Coldiretti national President Ettore Prandini.
 

Some complementary data
USA weather conditions between December 2019 and February 2020

China weather conditions between December 2019 and February 2020

Sources: luinonotizie.it, lecconotizie.com
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