By IANS/AKI,
Rome : Around 8,000 jobs in Italy’s agriculture sector may be lost following two deadly earthquakes in the northern part of the country last month, an agriculture trade group has said.
Damaged harvesting equipment and irrigation infrastructure may severely hurt the farming industry in the Emilia-Romagna region, where 10 percent of the agriculture industry is located, said the Coldiretti trade group.
Jobs may have to be cut from agro-businesses while livestock are being sold because of damage caused to animal stalls, Coldiretti said.
Damage to fruit production may also hit Italy’s July harvest.
Around 80 percent of the country’s pears come from the area affected by the May 20 and 29 quakes that killed 25 people, left thousands homeless and caused losses worth billions of euros.
Following the first quake, Coldiretti said farmers lost around 200 million euros, partly due to 400,000 damaged wheels of parmesan cheese.