Downy mildew, government relief arrives for 2023 damage: 47 million euros in aid

Harvest time across Italy, in a wine year still to be defined for wineries, which have been grappling all summer with the effects of adverse weather, including cloudbursts and drought. Meanwhile, the sector is still “licking” its wounds for the 2023 grape harvest, which has been severely penalized by the damage caused by downy mildew, with the government announcing, through the Ministry of Agriculture, as of September 19, the disbursement of solidarity funds reserved for wineries that suffered at least a 30% reduction in production a year ago due to the fungal infection: a 47 million euro fund.
“We provided everything we could to support especially small and medium-sized enterprises, which are most vulnerable to such destructive events”, said Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida.
In 2023 in Italy, the drop in wine production was 12% over 2022, and Italy, globally, was the single country that lost the most hectoliters (-5.9 million): geographically, Northern Italy more or less defended itself, or at least limited the damage, while the Center and the South recorded much worse data with Tuscany, Abruzzo and Sicily as the worst hit regions.
“The objective”, the minister remarked, “is to protect the future of the wine sector and offer concrete support to the damaged businesses. The speed and severity with which the blight spread, aided by the exceptional weather that year, required extraordinary intervention, and the Meloni government responded decisively”.
Specifically, 30,000 companies have applied to access these funds, a figure that - the ministry writes in a note - demonstrates the extent of the crisis that has affected both the table grape and wine sectors. Of the total 47 million euros available, 7 million come from Law 163/2023, while the additional 40 million come from the Agriculture Decree. Forty percent of the funds will be disbursed to all applicant companies, while the remaining 60% will be allocated as an additional share to companies that have taken preventive measures.