Italy to establish 'green corridor' with Romania to help agriculture

Text by: Anne Le Nir

As elsewhere in Europe, in Italy the restrictive measures adopted to combat the new coronavirus have a severe impact on the agricultural sector, which needs foreign labor to harvest fruits and vegetables.

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From our correspondent in Rome,

The closure of the Italian borders has resulted in the loss of 370,000 foreign agricultural workers, on whom almost 50% of Italian production depends, according to figures from the association of agricultural entrepreneurs Coldiretti. Among these seasonal workers, the Romanians represent the most important community. An agreement between Romania and the Italian Ministry of Agriculture which will be signed early next week will allow them to return to the fields.

Thanks to the green light from the European Commission and an agreement between Bucharest and Rome, a "green corridor" will be opened to bring in around 110,000 seasonal workers from Romania and guarantee them a contract in good and due form until the month December.

They will be employed in fifteen provinces including, in the North, those of Bolzano, Trento, Cuneo and Verona and, in the South, those of Latina and Foggia. According to Coldiretti, the main association of agricultural entrepreneurs, without this agreement, which could be extended to other Eastern European countries, 40% of the products of the land would not be harvested.

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• Italy
• Romania
• Agriculture and Fisheries
• Coronavirus

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