Calls for Italian government to permit use of Chloropicrin in strawberry production

The Italian strawberry sector risks collapse if action is taken immediately, according to the coordinator of the Strawberry Product Committee of Italy’s Ministry of Agricultural Policies, Francesco Nicodemo.

“In a few months’ time, we risk the prospect of having only Spanish strawberries on Italian tables. After the very high levels of specialisation achieved in recent decades, Italian strawberry production risks collapse if the Ministry of Health will not grant, without further delay, the exception for the permitted uses of Chloropicrin, an essential active ingredient to ensure the necessary production levels to be able to compete fairly with other European strawberry-producing countries that have already given the green light, as every year, to the use of the substance.”

Italy has over 4,000 thousand hectares of strawberries across the country – with the largest production concentrated in the south, in Basilicata and Campania.