Farms are decreasing: less than 30 percent in 10 years

«The farms in Italy have decreased by 30 percent in ten years: in 2020 there are 1.13 million according to the latest Istat census. And compared to 1982 almost two thirds of all agricultural businesses in our country have been lost (-63.8%). However, the average size has increased: many small companies have disappeared while the larger ones are more numerous (+17.7% over 100 hectares)». These are some of the data extrapolated from the report produced by OPENPOLIS and Aic, the Italian Farmers Association, on the occasion of the tenth National Congress of Aic “Farmers by choice. Let’s re-generate the future” which kicks off today at 2.30 pm at the Auditorium Antonianum in viale Manzoni 1 in Rome. The report also highlights how «the incidence of irregular work in agriculture in Italy stands at 24.4%, double the average for all sectors (12%). Not only. 5.4 percent of the Italian territory is at risk of flooding and the most exposed regions are Calabria (17.1 percent), Emilia-Romagna (11.6 percent) and Veneto (10 percent). At the same time, however, the availability of water in Italy decreased by 20 percent compared to the thirty years 1920-1950».

«Alongside the photograph of the state of agriculture in Italy – with a focus on Lazio which will be presented on the first day of work and one on Emilia Romagna scheduled for tomorrow – proposals are made to strengthen the sector, starting with the profitable use of 4.88 billion of the Pnrr owned by the Ministry of Agriculture».

«According to the report -explains in a note-, in Italy 93% of companies are family-run, but the incidence of salaried work, often occasional, is growing. 13.5% of businesses are led by an under 45 and women who lead agricultural businesses are 31.5%. Even in agriculture, young women are doubly penalized: they lead just 3.6% of businesses, less than the EU average (5.7%). Opening up the sector to young people and women is a way to invest in its future”. ”With this report we are addressing some issues on which it is necessary to work intensely to set in motion a regeneration of vision and action, at the center of the tenth national congress of Aic – affirms Giuseppino Santoianni, national president of Aic -.

«Furthermore, the extreme weather phenomena that affect us with increasing frequency are increasingly loud alarm bells of a systemic climate crisis that we must face together – concludes President Santoianni – We clearly see how women and farmers from all over the world, in Africa as in Emilia Romagna, they are on the front line of this front, fighting every day against the effects of the climate crisis. To regenerate our relationship with the earth, we must start from them».