New pig slaughters
“In light of the considerable increase in cases of wild boar plague, which is not once again spreading to Northern Italy, leading to further slaughter of pigs, we believe it is inevitable to intervene also in Lazio, where the companies that had to slaughter thousands of healthy pigs are without compensation and their business is at a standstill." Thus the president of Coldiretti Rome, Niccolò Sacchetti, on the new cases of swine fever which are registering a sharp increase in Northern Italy, with damage to pig farms and farmers who continue to see their crops destroyed, in some cases up to 80%. % of the harvest. In the capital and in the province the presence of over 20 thousand wild boars is estimated. A number destined to grow, which in Lazio exceeds 100 thousand presences of ungulates.
Incalculable damage
“A situation – continues Sacchetti – which risks irreversibly compromising with incalculable damage the agro-industrial chains linked to pig farms which guarantee income, employment and related industries. Reducing the number of wild boar species also means slowing down the spread of swine fever and protecting pig farms, which for more than a year, after having slaughtered thousands of healthy animals, have not received compensation or even income". The packs are moving ever closer to homes and schools, up to parks, destroying crops, attacking animals, besieging stables, causing road accidents with deaths and injuries and scratching around in waste with obvious health risks and the risk of contagion. increases in pig farms.
Grapes in danger
“It is urgent to financially support farmers – explains the director of Coldiretti Rome, Giuseppe Casu – who last year were forced to cull thousands of their healthy pigs. To date they are stuck with their business, which no longer generates income and without financial support." Boar attacks do not even spare the vineyards. Herds of ungulates are damaging tons of grapes in their final ripening phase, in the face of a harvest that in Lazio will even be zero in some companies due to downy mildew, which caused a drop ranging from 20% to 90%. Numerous crops were damaged, from carrots in Maccarese, to potatoes, to the roots of fruit trees, to corn. With production that risks disappearing, putting our biodiversity at risk. There are already numerous companies, which after years have been forced to change the type of cultivation and reconvert their land due to the damage suffered by wild boars. “The excessive presence of wild animals is a real emergency – concludes Sacchetti – which affects the safety of people, as well as the economy and work, especially in the most disadvantaged areas” (source: Coldiretti Rome).