Drought in Italy threatens olive oil production - media

This year in Italy, the production of olive oil, one of the main ingredients of Mediterranean cuisine, will suffer from the severe consequences of water shortages, Euronews reports, UNN writes.

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"The southern Italian region of Puglia accounts for about 50% of national olive oil production, and the drought is particularly acute," the report said.

It is noted that this year's lack of precipitation has seriously affected the olive harvest, which will be harvested in November. "It will clearly be worse than last year," the report says.

"This year, the olives did not produce well, there are much fewer than last year because we had a water shortage that we have been experiencing for several years, and then we had two terrible days during flowering when several varieties did not set. This year, we have 50%-80% fewer olives on the trees," said Pietro Leone, an agricultural company manager from the province of Foggia.

The Capaccio dam, near the city of Foggia, is practically empty, with only 2.5 million cubic meters of water, while it usually holds up to 17 million cubic meters. "But even the water that is there has been stored since last winter. This year, the dam has hardly been filled. The other 3 reservoirs in the province of Fojda are half empty," the report said.

"Instead of the 300 million cubic meters available in 4 reservoirs, we had half, only 150 million cubic meters. So we spent half of the irrigation season in the irrigation district, and then we had to stop to maintain 9 months of drinking water autonomy," said Giuseppe De Filippo from the National Association of Land Reclamation in Puglia.

It is reported that although olive trees need less water than other crops, "temperatures above 40 degrees for 50 consecutive days put the production of olives and therefore precious olive oil at great risk.