Last year in Piedmont lost an agricultural area equal to 311 football fields

The consumption of agricultural land continues unabated. " Civil buildings, public works and new productive settlements - clarifies the president of Confagricoltura Piemonte Enrico Allasia - in thirty years they have eliminated 20% of the agricultural area used for the expansion of cities and infrastructures, for the degradation of peri-urban areas and for the abandonment of hilly and mountain areas ".

The problem - as highlighted in a Confagricoltura note - is exacerbated by the combination of soil degradation, erosion and climate change which will significantly reduce yields, if no decisive action is taken. Soil is a precious and non-reproducible asset: if the area used for agriculture is reduced, the possibility of producing food decreases, while the world population increases and requires more and more food.

Last year, according to the findings of ISPRA - Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research - 21,400 square kilometers were "lost" on the total Italian territory. This means that in our country the waterproofed artificial soil increases by 2 square meters per second every day .

" In our region - explains the director of Confagricoltura Piemonte Ercole Zuccaro - we have consumed 6.72% of the national total, for a new waterproofed surface of 222 hectares. It is an imposing surface. To give an idea we consider that a football field , just as regards the pitch, it has an area of 7,140 square meters: this means that in 2019 in Piedmont we consumed an area equal to 311 new football fields ".

For Confagricoltura it is necessary to become aware of the key role that a healthy, vital and productive agricultural company plays in managing the land in a context heavily influenced by urbanization and climate change. " Green Deal, Farm to Fork, the future CAP, cohesion policies, the new national research program, but above all the Recovery plan - declares Enrico Allasia - are the great opportunities to be seized to safeguard and revitalize the soil resource ".