Farming in southern Italy ( the Mezzogiorno)

Farming in southern Italy ( the Mezzogiorno)

- Dam with reservoir giving some HEP and water for irrigation

-Large estates broken up into individual farms of 5 hectares in irrigated areas, and 25 hectares on more hilly land

- More intensive farming with higher yields: citrus fruits, pears, peaches, grapes, tomatoes. 125,000 new farms. Farmer's salaries increased by 25%, production by 3%

(Continued)

Mezzogiorno in 1950

Mezzogiorno

Physical map of Southern Italy

- Scrub land or maquis, poor grass for sheep and goats

-Thin, dry limestone soils with little surface drainage

-Seasonal rivers caused problems of water supply for domestic and agricultural purposes

-River mouths silted up limiting port development and creating malarial marshlands

- rough track or poor road

-Small areas of fertile land giving low yields of olives, wheat, barley, and vines

(Continued)

-High summer temperatures (30-40 C). High evaporation rates giving a water shortage. Winters very wet and ofen windy

-Low annual rainfall(under 500 mm) and a summer drought

-Most farmers lived in isolated hillside towns of up to 20 000 people ( defensive origins), a long way from the fields. Poor housing- 50% had no piped water, 40% no sanitation

-Latifundia- large estates of up to 1000 hectares belonging to absentee landlords, who had little interest in the land. 45% of farmers owned no land

-Rugged relief, 45% classified as hill county. 40% as mountainous and 15% as lowland

- Soil erosion followed centuries of deforestation speeded up by convectional summer storms and landslides

Mezzogiorno

Problems

Upland subsistence farms

- Farming tends to be done by the older generation and attract few young people

-Increased mechanization has led to increased unemployment. few alternative jobs, and there is an increasing number of abandoned fields and farms

-area is receiving numerous immigrants from poorer countries in Africa and the Middle East

-Ground is unstable with soil erosion, landslides and earthquakes

-long way from main markets , and has received little help from CAP ( Common Agriculture Policy)

-have hardly changed

-Wheat is main crop

-Olives and vines are important as they can tolerate high temperature

-need a lot of cheap labor

-higher, poorer areas left as grazing areas for sheep and goats

-most farmers can feed their families, but surplus is rare

Lowland commercial farms

- found either where large estates have been broken up into smaller units or where the malarial mashes have been drained and large dams have been built across several rivers

-new motorways have been built and water is stored in reservoirs for both domestic purposes and irrigation

-citrus fruits flourish in hot summers.

-flowers, tomatoes and vines are also grown

Mezzogiorno

Farming in Mezzogiorno Today

-half the jobs in farming been lost in the last 30 years

-agriculture employs 25% of the working population

- government tried to improve agriculture as well as services and industry

-several coastal areas benefited from large scale developments

-Comunita Montana scheme was introduced with emphasis on smaller more practical developments.

-means land of the midday sun

-lies south of Rome and includes islands of Sicily and Sardinia

-contains poorest parts of the EU

Basilicata

Map of Southern Italy

-described as 'the most disadvantaged of the 160 regions in the EU' (EU report, 2003)

-lots of poverty and high unemployment

-due to this many people have emigrated (4.5 million to north Italy, USA, Germany, & Switzerland

-lack of mineral and energy resources, industry, commerce, services and skilled labor

(Continued)

Mezzogiorno in 2000

- Hill villages, Improved sanitation and piped water to village

-Sheep and goats on poor pasture

-New school

-Improved road to village

-Wheat, olives and vines near village

-Upland Subsistence farms

-Lowland commercial farms

-Marshes drained

-New motorway

-Afforestation to reduce further soil erosion