Agricultural diesel skyrockets, the Iblean agriculture (and beyond) risks default

The indiscriminate increases in fuel prices risk causing our economy to take a step back by years and nullifying the efforts that everyone (political world, entrepreneurs, producers, and citizens) has made to emerge from the economic crisis that has characterized our recent past.

To raise the alarm is Honorable Ignazio Abbate, who draws attention to the true tsunami that is hitting the agricultural sector due to the surge in the price of agricultural diesel.

“In two weeks – continues the president of the I Commission for Institutional Affairs – the price has gone from 0.92 euros per liter, the value on February 28, to 1.30 euros today. About a 30% increase in just a few days, which will inevitably impact the already unstable health of our agriculture, forced to face long-standing issues.

A situation set to worsen, warns Abbate: “Analysts speculate that this price could rise further to reach the peaks recorded following the start of the war in Ukraine, namely 1.54 euros per liter.”

The timing exacerbates the situation, with the approach of spring and the intensification of fieldwork: “With the increase in work, the consumption of diesel will naturally rise as well, which will skyrocket. It is at that moment that the effects of this price surge will be felt most acutely. Our goal is to reach that moment with a ready-made stopgap solution.”

Abbate reports having initiated a serious dialogue in recent weeks with trade organizations, “such as Coldiretti,” and with industry operators, who have called for political intervention to curb the emergency of rising prices.

“I have committed to each of them that I will be their spokesperson in Palermo for the need to find the right resources to allocate to the agricultural sector, in order to cover the price increases and bring them back to pre-crisis levels in the Middle East. Agriculture is the driving sector for the economy of our island and as such we must do everything possible to put its workers in the best possible conditions to work.”