The drought is spreading like wildfire in all areas of the island and already in May it is putting Sardinian farmers and breeders to the test . Northern Sardinia also has to deal with the expansion of risk areas, which increase with each passing day.
An alarm that comes mainly from the North East, with the area between Loiri, Porto San Paolo, Padru and Alà dei Sardi , and from Nurra , where a dramatic situation is described.
Coldiretti Nord Sardegna collected the testimonies of some farmers. «It is only May but our lands are already exhausted with the river beds almost dry . The situation is serious throughout the territory, many companies do not have water resources and do not know what to do", reports Alessandro Ruiu , breeder and president of Coldiretti Loiri.
Gabriele Mandras, breeder from Padru : «The springs are now almost dried up, at this rate there will soon be no more water. We don't know how to water the livestock and the situation is getting worse day by day."
Michele Filigheddu, also a breeder : «Desperate situation, all winter the hot temperatures and alternating cold and hot winds have completely blocked the development of the plants and many herbage, in particular of oats which today should be at least one and a half meters high, they are only a few centimeters." And it doesn't end here: «The springs are almost dry and water supplies are blocked. Many companies are resorting to using tankers to give water to the animals but it is not enough, the institutions must request the state of natural disaster because we will not be able to face the expensive costs of being able to purchase the fodder".
And there is no peace even for wheat, explains Leonardo Muzzu : «Today we should have already had the plants ready for the supply of bread for the whole of 2024, but instead the wheat can barely exceed the shoes in height , the sowings done at the beginning of the year they did not produce the desired results. And considering that the vegetative state of the plant has been reduced to the maximum, the ears are not only not producing the adequate quantities for bread, but not even to produce the useful needs of our animals".
A «situation beyond the limit» explains Antonello Fois, president of Coldiretti Nord Sardegna , «we have been denouncing it for some time, the world of the countryside needs important structural interventions that guarantee the right supply of water to all areas».
The director of the association Ermanno Mazzetti also launches an appeal to the Municipalities: « The mayors affected by this dramatic situation should decide for a state of calamity , our territories need maximum support to face this moment in view of the summer where the problems will they will amplify more."
(Unioneonline/L)