That it was an anomalous summer , anticipated in time and enormously hotter than in the past, it had already been understood for several weeks with farmers on full alert to the idea that the month of August could reserve nasty surprises with sudden torrential rains, trumpets air and especially with the dreaded hail. All three arrived on time, in scattered order and patchy in different areas of Sardinia.
First the south of the island and then Gallura, Baronia and Barbagia were hit by bad weather that brought devastation to the fields and agricultural structures. The worst consequences were paid by the vegetable crops in the lower Campidano area and then by winegrowers, olive growers and fruit growers from various regional territories.
The last disturbance occurred on 13 August with heavy rainfall in northern Gallura which then moved in the early afternoon between the lower Baronia and the Barbagia di Bitti. In less than an hour the hail devastated vineyards and olive groves in the Sologo Valley between the territories of Lula, Galtellì and Dorgali, to push inland as far as Onanì and Bitti.
DAMAGE - The first checks carried out in these days in the farms are worrying: fruits and foliage on the ground and what is left on the trees is heavily damaged by the hail storm , with a diameter of a few centimeters. From a first estimate, which will have to be updated in the coming days, there would be damage between 20 and 50 percent . With very different situations at a distance of a few hundred meters. In fact, the hail fell to the ground unevenly, on non-constant and contiguous strips of surface.
"What is not on the ground risks rotting in the next few days if not treated with quick interventions to be done on the rows right away", the words of Michele Ena , president of Confagricoltura Nuoro and Ogliastra , who takes care of several hectares of vineyards in Sologo. family's. “One of the most promising seasons in terms of production quality and quantity in recent years has been lost in less than an hour”.
"As the president of Confagricoltura Sardegna, Paolo Mele has already done several times, - Ena specified - we remind the president of the Region, Christian Solinas, and the councilor for Agriculture, Gabriella Murgia, of the need to make the instrument of the Regional revolving fund . An intervention to be completed as soon as possible to favor the insurance activities of the crops by Sardinian farmers ".
"Serious environmental events - concluded Michele Ena - have been growing exponentially for some decades and if not governed with adequate tools will make it increasingly impossible to carry out agricultural or livestock activities in all the territories of Sardinia".
(Unioneonline / vl)
