The Italian Farmers Association Coldiretti warns that Italy needs at least 100 agricultural workers seasonal migrants to ensure the harvest of fruits and vegetables during the next summer season.
The association said in a statement that farms across Italy “desperately need the requested workers but, to this day, permits have not yet been released” by city hall offices responsible for immigration.
According to a dossier on immigration by the IDOS research center prepared in cooperation with Coldiretti, the “presence of foreign workers has become a structural part of agriculture in Italy, where one agricultural product in four is harvested by foreign hands.”
Coldiretti's statement was released after the Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese She announced a new decree on migrant flows: “The government is working to approve the next decree on flows, which will have to take into account the growing needs of various economic sectors,” the minister said in an interview published by the Rome daily. La Repubblica, last Thursday.
Need more helping hands
Coldiretti also highlighted that in relation to 2021, “the quotas of extra-community workers admitted by decree in Italy increased to 69 thousand and, of these, 42 thousand positions were reserved for agriculture, while applications were submitted for 100 thousand”.
The association also added that “the majority are employees on short-term contracts from abroad, and every year they cross the border to work seasonally and then return to their country”.
However, the statement concluded that “it is also necessary to allow those who receive social benefits, students and pensioners who are Italian, can temporarily collaborate in activities in the field”.
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