The production of at least 400 million kilograms of wheat has been lost this year in the flooded lands of Emilia Romagna, where approximately one-third of the nation's soft wheat is produced, while the fruit harvest will be compromised for the next four or five years because the water left in the orchards has "suffocated" the roots of the trees, causing them to rot and necessitating the uprooting and replanting of entire plantations. This is the conclusion of Coldiretti's monitoring of the serious damage caused by the flood that devastated over 5000 farms and animal husbandry with drowned animals in Romagna. The region being one of the most agricultural areas of the country with a gross saleable production of about 1.5 billion euros per year that multiplies along the supply chain thanks to cutting-edge induced private and cooperative activities in food processing and distribution that has been strongly compromised. To the damage to agricultural production are added those to structures such as orchard plants, greenhouses, rural buildings, stables, machinery, and equipment lost, not to mention the need to reclaim the land and restore viability in rural areas where landslides multiply. According to Coldiretti, in the affected regions at least 50,000 jobs are at risk throughout the entire supply chain, among farmers and employees in the countryside, in industries, and in processing cooperatives.
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