Bellanova: "strategic actions and interventions for sectors in crisis such as sheepmeat and buffalo milk"
“We are putting in place every possible solution to deal with the effects of the spread of the coronavirus. With this objective we have reached today the agreement with the regions on the durum wheat fund decree up to 2022 for 40 million euros, on the Cun fund decree and on the competitiveness of the supply chains decree, which uses the funds included in the 2020 Budget Law. The last measure has a total of 29,5 million euros for the next two years which we have spread over some strategic and also emergency interventions. We focus on the supply chains that best adapt to the possibility of signing supply chain contracts, so as to multiply the effect of public funding by stabilizing the relationships between farmers and processors. The proposed interventions on corn, legumes and soybeans belong to this category, which are thus added to wheat. For these crops, we also aim to improve our self-supply capacity, so as to guarantee stocks that allow us to face crisis situations.
There are also two proposals on strategic supply chains particularly affected by the spread of COVID-19. This is an action to support the income of shepherds, with aid for PGI sheepmeat and lambs born, raised and slaughtered in Italy for a total of 7,5 million euros and an intervention of 2 million euro for buffalo milk, at high risk of waste as a consequence of the closure of all restaurants and especially pizzerias. The Ministry is fully operational to give concrete answers and help businesses overcome the crisis. I also want to thank the Regions that gave the agreement in a very short time to this provision ".
Thus the Minister of Agricultural Food and Forestry Policies Teresa Bellanova comments on the approval at the Conference of State, Regions and Autonomous Provinces of the decree implementing the Budget Law 2020, which establishes and disposes of the allocation of the Fund for the competitiveness of the agri-food chains.
INTERVENTIONS ON THE SUPPLY CHAINS
WHEAT
Approved the decree which allocates a total of 40 million euros until 2022 to guarantee aid of up to 100 euros per hectare for farmers producing durum wheat in multi-year supply chain contracts. The purpose of the standard is to improve the supply of Italian quality wheat for the pasta supply chain and to stabilize relations between farmers and processors.
CORN, LEGUMES AND SOYBEAN
The supply chain competitiveness decree extends the grain supply chain contracts model also to corn, legumes and soybeans with a contribution also in this case equal to 100 euros per hectare cultivated under supply chain contracts. The budget foreseen amounts to a total of 11 million euros for maize and 9 million euros for legumes and soybeans.
OVINE MEAT
In order to intervene on the crisis in sheepmeat sales, the competitiveness decree provides for aid of up to € 9 for each slaughtered and PGI certified item and aid of up to € 6 for each non-PGI born item , bred and slaughtered in Italy in the period from 1 March to 30 April of the year preceding that of demand, therefore for 2019 in the 2020 and for 2020 in the 2021 year. This is an urgent intervention that is valid overall 7,5 million euros.
BUFFALO MILK
The buffalo milk supply chain is also under pressure due to the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, in particular due to the closure of restaurants and pizzerias, which absorb a significant portion of the processed product. The decree provides for a first intervention of 2 million euros which accompanies the transformation phase in the freezing of milk and the subsequent use for the production of DOP buffalo mozzarella from Campania, with special labeling.
CUN
The decree for the functioning of the single national commissions provides for the use of the 200 thousand euro of the fund established for this purpose by the budget law 2020. The decree favors the transparent formation of the target price of the products that have activated the CUN, in particular in the pig sector , tunnel and poultry.