Water has given way in cultivated fields to a thick layer of silt and sand that creates an impermeable crust, suffocating the soil and making gas exchanges that are essential for roots and plant life impossible. This is the alarm raised by Coldiretti on the effects of the flooding in Emilia Romagna that put fertility at risk on more than one hundred thousand cultivated hectares. Crops of vegetables, wheat, barley, corn, sunflower, canola and soybeans covered by mud have been completely lost, but to recover the functionality of the fields and return to sowing, it is necessary to plow deep to remix the soil layers and dilute the presence of silt and sand on the surface. For orchards and vineyards, one should try to intervene as soon as possible to prevent root asphyxia from killing the plants with loss of production for the next four or five years. There is a particular need to try to remove the surface layer to aerate the soil without damaging plant roots. The emergency should be addressed by farmers with quick and costly interventions, but these are difficult to achieve in the current situation with unserviceable mechanical means and broken roads.
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