Caro fertilizzanti, Lollobrigida: via a 136 milioni di aiuti agli agricoltori

The Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty, and Forests unveiled an extraordinary €136 million intervention to assist farmers grappling with rising fertilizer costs, as announced via the Sole 24 Ore newspaper on September 1st. This emergency measure aligns with the European Union's support for agricultural businesses impacted by the Middle East crisis, which has led to soaring production costs.

Over €136 million will be made available to compensate Italian farmers, with more than €45 million coming from the European Agricultural Crisis Reserve and an additional €91 million sourced from national funds. These resources will help offset 50% of the cost hikes in fertilizers for crops most affected by the price increases and characterized by high fertilizer usage.

According to the Masaf, this intervention will benefit approximately 547,000 Italian farmers and will be disbursed without additional bureaucratic hurdles, directly crediting the funds to the beneficiaries' accounts as per hectare. Key crops targeted in this initial wave include cereals (wheat, rice, corn), oil, hazelnuts, sugar beets, and rapeseed, as well as other crops with significant fertilizer needs.

Minister Francesco Lollobrigida highlighted that while others are engaged in discussions, the Meloni government is delivering on its plans to support agriculture. "With the Hormuz crisis, there has been a significant increase in the prices of certain products essential for farmers' production, including fertilizers," he stated. "We went to Europe, explained the need for intervention, and secured over €45 million in resources.

However, we deemed this insufficient, so we asked colleague Giorgetti to provide further €91 million."

Lollobrigida emphasized that this intervention is part of a broader set of measures aimed at supporting farmers amid international challenges. "This is an intervention that will be followed by others as we have never ceased to closely monitor the difficulties faced by agricultural sectors," he added. "We await Coltiva Italia, which will program and guarantee funds for all Italian agricultural production sectors, for we believe that agriculture truly deserves top priority."