Alarm in Capitanata: tomato production plummets, with a 30% drop in the harvest. Prices are rising, but they're not enough to cover costs.

The tomato season in Puglia is worsening, with drought already causing a 30% drop in production. Coldiretti Puglia is raising the alarm, noting that the decline in the harvest has led to a rise in prices, which, however, is insufficient to cover the farmers' efforts and investments.

Foggia's weight in national production

The Foggia area remains the main hub for Italian-made sauce, accounting for 84% of the region's nearly 18,000 hectares of cultivated land and 3,500 active producers. Nearly a fifth of the entire national harvest, amounting to approximately 20 million quintals, is concentrated here, with an estimated Gross Saleable Production of €180 million. These figures are significant when compared to the Italian total of 55 million quintals and 95,000 hectares of cultivated land.

Drought and skyrocketing costs

Water shortages have forced many farms to abandon entire hectares of crops, concentrating scarce resources on just a portion of their land. Added to this are the high cost of fuel and rising energy and raw material costs, which have increased production costs by 30% compared to historical averages.

"The objective difficulties of continuing production during the drought," explains Marzio De Matteo , president of Coldiretti Foggia, "are compounded by the criticality of an irrigation campaign that never really got underway. The drastic drop in production has led to a rise in tomato prices, which, however, barely cover costs and fail to compensate for farmers' investments."

Competition from Chinese derivatives

The situation is further aggravated by the import of tomato products from China, which now affects the entire European market. Coldiretti reiterates the need to promote domestic products through mandatory origin labeling at the European level and compliance with the principle of reciprocity in health and social regulations, to ensure equal conditions for Italian companies.

The battle of Coldiretti

For this reason, the association is pushing forward a popular initiative bill, launched last year at the Brenner Pass, which can be signed at Campagna Amica markets, at Coldiretti local offices, and online on the European Union portal dedicated to citizens' initiatives.

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