Olive oil, the crisis of production in Italy

Italy is the third largest producer of olive oil, the second exporter, but, as anticipated, it is currently suffering from a serious crisis. In one year, production decreased by 57%.
Coldiretti, the main Italian association of farmers, speaks of a real massacre of 25 million olive trees, which affected the south of the country, the most affected area ever, and estimates a loss of around one million euros.

But what are the causes? Climate change and its multiple consequences, first of all, but not only.
Spring frosts, followed by extreme summer drought, combined with heavy autumn rains. These are in fact the main reasons that have led to a significant drop in production. In fact, olive trees are very sensitive to certain climatic conditions: three days of frost can be more important than the average temperature in the rest of the year.

The aforementioned climatic conditions not only have direct consequences on trees, but also cause the appearance of parasites in olive groves, another important factor that caused the production crisis in our country. These include the oil fly and the bacterium xylella fastidiosa.

In this situation, unfortunately, in order to meet internal needs, our country will have to import oil from other producing countries. The