Over half of the fields remained uncultivated, erased from the map of the gardens of the Island. From the peaches of San Sperate to the citrus fruits of Muravera, from the artichokes of Villasor to the cherry tomatoes of Pula. In the last fifteen years the hectares of fruit and vegetable cultivations in Sardinia have literally halved: a collapse of 52% on a regional basis, almost 13 thousand hectares (Istat data) abandoned from 2010 to today (from 24,509 to 11,838).
Land invaded by weeds and empty greenhouses. A bleak picture that explains the resulting surge in imports (+63%), given the demand that is not satisfied by domestic production, and the collapse of exports (-64%), while the local market is invaded by products arriving from Spain, North Africa, South America. In Sardinia there are 3,021 hectares cultivated with citrus fruits, just 5% of the agricultural woody crops (plants ranging from olives to vines, to fruit in general) that extend for 57 thousand hectares (of which 54% are olive groves, and just over 30% vineyards).
Fresh fruit (excluding citrus fruits) is grown on an area of just 1,767 hectares, a share that is decreasing year by year, like horticultural production.