Agricultural Reforms and Policies Discussed at Mantova Meeting

Attentive audience at the meeting on agricultural topics organized by the Comitato Rutelli 2001 Monday evening at the Gozzolina parish hall.

Prompted by Nicola Borzi, journalist from Il Sole 24 Ore, a discussion took place for over two hours between Roberto Borroni, Undersecretary for Agricultural Policies, Antonio Corbari, President of the Italian Organic Farming Association, and Antonio Viotto, Regional Councilor and member of the Commission for Production Activities.

Among the audience were Deputy Mayor Giuseppe Bertoli, Ecology Councillor Roberto Moratti, and Nunzio Belluzzi, President of Indecast.

Government Objectives and Agricultural Reforms

Borroni recalled that the main objectives of the government action were threefold: to reconquer role and credibility for Italy in Brussels; to manage the numerous emergencies of recent years without reducing protests to public order problems, but rather channeling them in democratic forums; and to reform agricultural institutions, including resolving the longstanding issues of agricultural consortia, which have been brought back into cooperative legislation.

Councillor Viotto, citing the Regional Rural Plan, highlighted the lack of awareness about this tool and European funding, as well as about training opportunities, which today the agricultural sector cannot ignore.

In a context like the Upper Mantovano area, Viotto argues, agriculture must also consider other variables such as the environment and tourism.

Corbari agreed, emphasizing the crucial role of environmental protection and public health in defining production standards for organic agriculture, and noted the need to develop Rural Plans: Regione Lombardia tends to focus more on commercialization than on production phases and does relatively little in terms of training.

Reflections on the Reform Law of Milk Quota Regime

Borroni then pointed out: “The reform law of the milk quota regime, which links their allocation to actual production, was opposed by a cross-party majority that did not accept this principle.”

Therefore, the government had to proceed through a series of decree-laws, as agriculture faces intense tensions during the transition from protectionism to a free market.

The majority of Italian agriculture is now capable of supporting this change, including in the South, thanks to young entrepreneurs, but a minority still thinks in terms of assistance, and this segment is unlikely to withstand competition.”