The requests on the table
The protection of farmers through adequate compensation and a freeze on charges; the massive containment of wild boars, the main vectors of swine fever; the temporary stop in the red zones to hunting, mushroom picking, trekking, to limit the circulation of the virus as much as possible. These are the requests put on the table by Cia-Agricoltori Italiani during the meeting with the new extraordinary commissioner for the PSA, Giovanni Filippini, today at the national headquarters in Rome. Only in this way, according to the organization, can the survival of the stables be guaranteed and the escalation stopped, which puts at risk the entire Made in Italy pig sector, 26 thousand companies and a value of over 13 billion euros between production and industry.
A future for breeders
“We thank Filippini very much for his immediate willingness to discuss the emergency with us,” said Cia President Cristiano Fini. “In the last month, the situation has worsened significantly, with 24 outbreaks of swine fever recorded in factories in Northern Italy, 18 of which in Lombardy, which alone accounts for more than 50% of the total national pig farms. It is clear that we can no longer wait, great synergy and teamwork are needed to avoid disaster.” For this reason, Fini continued, “first of all, we have asked the commissioner to guarantee a future for the affected farmers. This means providing rapid and substantial compensation to cover all direct and indirect damages, from production shutdowns to the depreciation of livestock to the blocking of related activities, such as biogas plants. Then, tools to support businesses (mortgage moratorium, redundancy fund, contribution exemptions) and investment support to increase biosecurity in the company are needed.”
Restriction areas
Equally fundamental, to prevent the spread of the epidemic, "is to accelerate and intensify the operations to contain wild boars, with specialized personnel and a single control room, starting from the buffer zones and pig districts", added the president of Cia. Furthermore, "in the restricted zones, and limited to the emergency period, a ban on hunting, fishing, mushroom and truffle picking, trekking and mountain biking would be necessary, always with the aim of stopping infections and raising awareness among the population on the issue. On the other hand, concluded Fini, "the stability of a key sector of our agri-food industry is at stake". For his part, Commissioner Filippini assured constant dialogue and collaboration with Cia, welcoming the organization's requests and illustrating his new strategy to turn the fight against swine fever around and save farms (source: CIA).
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