Italian farming confederation CIA has warned that more than 50,000 of the country's agricultural producers could go out of business this year as a result of spiralling costs, 'oppressive' bureaucracy and a lack of government support, unless something 'immediate and extraordinary' is done to avert the crisis.
With one in three companies said to be at risk of going under, companies managing an estimated 2m hectares of agricultural land are in danger of collapse, the group said.
“During the past ten years, around 500,000 agricultural companies have closed down, particularly those in mountain regions or disadvantaged areas,' said CIA president Giuseppe Politi.
In 2008 alone, he said, more than 20,000 companies went out of business. 'The risk is that, in the next three to four years, more than 250,000 companies will run the risk of having to cease their activities,' added Mr Politi. 'Without targeted intervention, it will be a tragedy for the entire sector.'
On Friday, more than a thousand farmers marched on Rome to stage a sit-in outside the Palazzo Montecitorio, home to the Chamber of Deputies – the lower house of the Italian Parliament.
The CIA called on the government to extend its policy of allowing Italy's farmers to make reduced social security contributions – a policy due to cease on 31 March – as well as to make concessions on tax and red tape for agricultural producers.
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