Italy - Recent

In Puglia, the region with the highest olive oil production in Italy, olive farmers are facing severe production and yield reductions ahead of the harvest season this year due to high temperatures and drought.

Since the beginning of summer this year, many regions in Italy have suffered from continuous high temperatures and drought. Due to climate change, the olive planting industry in Puglia has been facing the problem of insufficient rainfall in recent years, but as olive trees are relatively drought-resistant, the harvest of growers has not been greatly affected.

However, due to the particularly severe drought this year, a reduction in olive production is inevitable. The largest agricultural operator organization in Italy, Coldiretti, predicts that the olive production in Puglia this year will drop by 50 percent compared to last year.

Gioffreda said that the dilapidated water conservancy facilities in some areas have aggravated the drought.

Shotlist:
Italy - Recent:
1. Various of dead tree, cracked land;
2. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Ivano Gioffreda, olive grower in Puglia (partially overlaid with shot 3):
"In years with normal rainfall, the olive pits should still be green at this time and can be easily opened with a fingernail. But now, the olive pits have become woody. The olive trees have suffered from drought throughout the summer.";
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3. Olives on tree;
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4. Water irrigation device;
5. Well;
6. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Ivano Gioffreda, olive grower in Puglia (partially overlaid with shot 7):
"Now we can only pump water from this well for three or four hours a week for irrigation. In the past, we could pump water for 15 or 16 hours a day, and the water level would return to normal the next day. The water shortage scares us, and our future is full of uncertainty.";
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7. Gioffreda checking olive;
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8. Aerial shots of olive trees.

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