The Coronavirus crisis is causing a halt to the Campania floricultural sector. Orders have plummeted, plants remained unsold, stems were not harvested, exports practically stopped, greenhouses are full, there is a shortage of storage and many orders from the northern regions of Italy are cancelled, so much that the loss in terms of production is estimated over 30 million euro.
With the passing of the days, the situation is becoming increasingly critical and all events are occurring at a time when the production is at its peak.
The CPFC (Consorzio Produttori Florovivaisti Campani) is working on a report that assesses the impact of the Coronavirus emergency on the floricultural growers, which will be available to all operators of the sector (which can also be downloaded from the website www.gaiaflorum.com) in order to evaluate for each company the effective loss, and this same document will also be incorporated among the requests submitted to the regional and national authorities to whom “we ask to take in account our requests and, at the same time, to implement tangible initiatives in support of the sector. From an economic standpoint, the future scenario is not safe, it is necessary to intervene with targeted actions", said a spokesman from the Consortium.
However, the situation is worsening with each passing day. "From Piana del Sele to Vesuvius we are recording similar situations. Many of our consortium members are forced to destroy their production due to an almost total blockage of the market," said the leader of the Consorzio Produttori Florovivaisti Campani.
Even before the restrictive measures to counteract the contagion from Coronavirus, which have led to the closure of the wholesale markets, the Consortium had already launched its alarm.
Last week, the top executives of the Consortium, which counts over 250 members including operators in the sector and cooperatives, officially requested a meeting with the region Campania authorities and the Ministry of Agriculture to implement supportive actions for the sector.
As agreed at the permanent Conference for State-Regions-Autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano, all the regional authorities in charge of the agricultural sector sent their urgent measures to be considered for the agricultural sector.
Consequently, and within a very short time, on Friday was held a video conference with the president of the CPFC (Consorzio Produttori Florovivaisti Campani) Enzo Malafronte and the regional councillor for the agricultural sector of region Campania Nicola Caputo, to submit to the Minister of Agriculture Teresa Bellanova, among the urgent measures of the agricultural sector, also those for the floriculture sector that is currently facing a very difficult time.
Below is a summary of the requests submitted by the president Vincenzo Malafronte and the agronomists Francesco Romano and Roberta Giordano:
- 100% assessment and compensation for all direct damages.
- Financial support to guarantee liquidity to companies to meet expenses and losses through a dedicated and guaranteed support fund system.
- Cancellation of all taxes, social security and welfare expenditure, both for company owners and staff.
- Capital contributions and tax credit for events and trade fairs.
- A diplomatic green corridor agreement that allows the circulation of certified goods at borders.
For more information:
Consorzio Produttori Florovivaisti Campani
www.facebook.com/cpfcampania