At the moment, Sicily seems to be the region least affected by the bad weather that hit the Italian peninsula recently, especially since an improvement is expected. Locally, however, there are indeed a few problems.
Some damage was registered between 6th and 7th January 2017 in the Licata and Ispica areas, as polytunnels, which have no other thermal protection other than films, were not enough to protect courgettes from frost.
The Fidone brothers agricultural business, located between Ispica and Pachino and made up mainly of polytunnlels, was hit particularly hard.
Around half of the forty hectares of courgettes was affected by frost due to the severe drop in temperatures during the night between 6th and 7th January.
"The temperature dropped to -2°C and damaged our leading crop - courgettes. We calculated a loss of 50% of the produce, but we are not the only ones, some lost all of their crop. Unfortunately it is not over yet, as temperatures are expected to drop to -4°C," reports Giuseppe Fidone.
Coldiretti is aware of the situation, though the real damage will only emerge over the next few hours as closer inspections will make it possible to assess the extent of the thermal shock. Feedback for the Vittoria, Acate and Scicli areas will be available over the next few days, though these areas seem to have remained unaffected.
Author: Gaetano Piccione