Crops rot as Italian farmers hit by virus, drought

Floriana Fanizza gazes desolately at her celery crop, lost to the coronavirus because it could not be harvested.

Italian farmers are being brought to their knees by a six-week lockdown aimed at stopping a deadly epidemic in its tracks. They are also suffering a drought caused by the driest spring in more than half a century.

Border blocks, restaurant closures and a lack of seasonal workers mean nearly four out of 10 businesses in the fruit and vegetable sector are struggling, according to Italy's biggest agricultural union Coldiretti.

On the Fanizza family farm in Fasano, a town near the Puglia coast in southern Italy, some pickers, fearful for their health, stayed at home as the country went into shutdown at the start of March.

That meant there were not enough hands to harvest the celery and turnip crops, which were ruined. The clock is now ticking on seeding vegetables for harvesting this summer.

"To sow properly, we need seven or eight people," 41-year-old Fanizza says.

"We hope we'll be able to find them, otherwise we will have to reduce production."