« Italy’s agricultural landscape is undergoing significant changes as it shifts towards growing tropical fruits like mangoes instead of traditional ones. This transformation is a response to the profound effects of the climate crisis, as highlighted in footage from Saturday in Syracuse, located in south-eastern Sicily.
Footage shows long fields of crops, in particular mango, where farmers can be seen picking and transporting the ripe fruit.
Farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs in the region have commented that due to rising temperatures, which can reach highs of 45 to 48 °C during the summer months, the harvested fruit has been damaged, impacting as much as 35% of the production.
« In this company, we have about 3 hectares of surface area dedicated to the cultivation of mangoes, » said agricultural entrepreneur Giuseppe.
« Sicily’s climate allows us to keep the plants in the open field without the need to use the greenhouse. This is undoubtedly due to the changing climate, the change of climate in recent years that has allowed us to import mango crops mainly from Australia since the 1980s, with the first experiments on the ‘Kensington pride’, which is precisely the plant you see here », he added.
While changes are happening across the country, the shift towards growing tropical crops is most noticeable in the southern regions of Sicily, Puglia, and Calabria. »
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