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Italy Agriculture and Fishing Overview
Agriculture and fishing
The conditions for agriculture and livestock
management are not the best. The Italian peninsula is
very mountainous, and the country suffers during periods
of drought. Excluding the clay plains around the river
Po and the fertile volcanic soils around Rome and
Naples, the earth is rather barren. On the other hand,
the country's climate provides an excellent crop base
for crops and several harvests a year.
- CountryAAH:
Comprehensive import regulations of Italy. Covers import prohibitions and special documentation requirements for a list of prohibited items.
In the north, maize, rice, sugar beet, soybeans and
fruit are mainly produced, while southern Italy grows a
lot of wheat and citrus fruits. Grapes, as well as other
fruits and vegetables, are basically grown throughout
the country. Italy is one of the world's largest
producers and exporters of wine, and second largest
after Spain in the production of olive oil.
Other important foods, mainly meat and dairy
products, are mainly produced in the north but must also
be imported.

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Digopaul: Definition and brief introduction of Italy. Major cities are listed and popular images are presented for this country.
The land is mostly used by self-sufficient farmers on
small family farms. From the 1990s there has been a
certain transition to fewer and larger, mechanized
farms, mainly in the north. Compared to most countries
in Western Europe, agriculture is often inefficient,
especially in the south.
About a third of the country's area is wooded. The
forest industry is limited and a lot of wood products
are imported.
Extensive fishing is conducted in the neighboring
parts of the Mediterranean: mainly sardines, anchovies,
mackerel, tuna, octopus and seafood are caught.
FACTS - AGRICULTURE
Agriculture's share of GDP
1.9 percent (2018)
Percentage of land used for agriculture
43.2 percent (2016)
2019
December
The Minister of Education resigns
December 26
Education Minister Lorenzo Fioramonti of the Five Star Movement announces
that he is resigning since he has not received the funds he has demanded at
least EUR 3 billion. Instead, he was allocated two billion in the government
budget, which was recently adopted by Parliament. Fioramonti's departure is seen
by analysts as a severe blow to the government, which is already strained by
tensions between the unlucky government parties.
November
Severe floods in Venice
November 14
The water level in Venice, which is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage
Site, has reached well above normal and now reaches 187 centimeters, the highest
level in over 50 years. The last time Venice was in an equally serious position
was in November 1966, when the water level reached 194 centimeters. Nearly
four-fifths of the city, which is built on hundreds of smaller islands linked by
canals and bridges, is under water and major damage has occurred in churches,
shops and homes. The Italian government has allocated EUR 20 million, just over
SEK 210 million, to deal with the most acute devastation.
October
Name change of South Tyrol question before the Constitutional Court?
October 14
The Legislative Assembly of the Alpine region of the South Tyrol of northern
Italy changes its name without obtaining permission from Rome. The official name
of the region, Alto Adige / South Tyrol, is changed to Provincia di Bolzano /
South Tyrol. It is the South Tyrolean Freedom Party that has driven the issue.
The government of Rome announces that the case will be taken to the
Constitutional Court unless the name change is withdrawn.
The number of MPs is reduced in constitutional reform
October 8
Parliament's two chambers voted in favor of reducing the number of MEPs. The
Chamber of Deputies should have 400 members instead of 630 and in the Senate the
number should be reduced from 315 to 200. The change should begin from the 2023
parliamentary elections. agree to the agreement if it in turn can push through a
change of the election system.
September
Matteo Renzi leaves the Democratic Party
September 18
Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announces that he will leave his
Democratic Party (PD) party. Just two weeks ago, the party formed a coalition
government with the Five Star Movement. Renzi justifies his decision that PD
lacks visions for the future. He will now form a new party, Italia Viva, and
according to him, some 30 PD members will move on to his party. However, the new
party will continue to support the government. PD Party leader Nicola Zingaretti
says after the message that Renzi's decision is a mistake.
August
The Democratic Party and the Five Star Movement are to form a new government
August 29th
The government crisis in Italy that was triggered when the extreme right-wing
party Lega tired of cooperation with the Five Star Movement (see August
8) appears to have been resolved. The five-star movement and the Social
Democratic Democratic Party have agreed to form a new government coalition to be
led by Giuseppe Conte, prime minister of the former right-wing government. Conte
has received President Mattarella's approval to move on with the formation of
government.
Migrants are eventually allowed to leave rescue vessels
20th of August
After almost three weeks at sea, the Spanish rescue ship Open Arms can add to
the Italian island of Lampedusa. The ship has been banned by Interior Minister
Matteo Salvini from adding to an Italian port. The 80 migrants on board are
allowed to leave the ship after an Italian prosecutor has decided to leave
ashore because of the difficult situation on board with riots and suicide
threats. Salvini has refused to let migrants ashore despite the fact that six EU
countries have offered to receive them. Italian prosecutors have launched an
investigation into Salvini's handling of the case.
Prime Minister Conte resigns
20th of August
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announces that he will resign after condemning
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's attempt to secure a new election (see
August 8). The government cooperation between the Five Star Movement
and Lega has long cracked down. At the same time, Salvini's party Lega is
leading the polls and the chances of Salvini being able to become prime minister
for a new government seems good. Prime Minister Conte, however, believes that
Salvini has acted irresponsibly when he declared two weeks ago that Lega wanted
to withdraw from government cooperation and subsequently initiated a distrust
vote against Conte in the Senate. It is now up to President Sergio Mattarella to
try to resolve the situation either by establishing a new government or by
announcing new elections.
Salvini wants new elections
August 8th
The government ends up in a new crisis after the Five Star Movement has voted
against a rail project supported by the other government. The rail project,
which has received EU funding, will link the French city of Lyon with Turin in
Italy and include a tunnel over the five-mile stretch below the Alps. Part of
the high-speed line has already begun to be built. The five-star movement, which
considers that the train line is not only harmful for environmental reasons but
is also a waste of state resources, has tried a few days earlier to get the
Senate to stop the project. Interior Minister Salvini and Lega believe that the
train line will lead to new jobs and increase economic growth. Because of the
conflict between the two government parties, Salvini turns to Prime Minister
Giuseppe to call for re-election.
June
Government decree on fines for migrant vessels
June 11
The government adopts a decree that private relief organizations that rescue
distressed migrants in the Mediterranean can be penalized with fines if their
vessels add to Italian ports after receiving orders not to travel on Italian
waters. Those responsible for the vessels can pay between € 10,000 and € 50,000
in fines.
May
Largest in the EU elections
May 26
Interior Minister Salvini's party Lega receives the most votes in the
European elections. It is a great success for the party and Salvini. According
to preliminary results, the party receives just over 34 percent of the vote and
28 seats in the Europe of Nations and Freedoms (ENF) group. In second place will
be the opposition party Democratic Party (PD), which looks to get close to 23
percent of the vote and 18 seats in the parliamentary group Progressive Social
Democrats (S&D). The second government party, the Five Star Movement, comes
first in third place with about 17 percent of the vote and 14 seats in the
European Parliamentary Freedom and Democracy Group (EFDD). Forza Italia looks to
have about 7 seats (European People's Party, EPP),
Boat migrants are allowed to land
May 10
Despite the government's restrictive migration policy, media reports that
close to tens of migrants have been allowed to land are scattered. 60 migrants
rescued by a rescue boat on the Mediterranean have been helped in Italy, another
70 boat migrants are picked up by Italian coastguard off the island of
Lampedusa, while 36 distressed migrants are allowed to enter Italian soil since
four EU countries promised to receive some of them.
The Catholic Church can take care of 600 refugees
May 3
The Ministry of the Interior announces that it has given green light to
receive 600 asylum seekers from Niger, Jordan and Ethiopia over a two-year
period. The refugees will be allowed to fly to Italy and they will be
accommodated and taken care of by the Catholic Church.
April
Italy receives 147 refugees
April 29
Italy receives 147 refugees transported by air from Libya. Nearly half of the
refugees are children and young people from several African countries. They have
been evacuated after the recent flare-up violence and unrest in Libya. The
reason why Italy accepts the refugees is, according to Interior Minister
Salvini, that they flee from war and that they are women and children.
March
Italy enters into an agreement on Silk Road projects with China
March 23rd
Italy is the first of the G7 countries to join China's investment in
so-called new Silk Road. During a visit by China's President Xi Jinping, the
countries enter into 29 different agreements totaling $ 2.5 billion. These
include agreements in energy, agriculture and finance, and a number of Italian
companies will operate in the Chinese market. At the same time, China will have
access to and participate in expanding the ports of Trieste and Genoa.
The Senate blocks trial against Salvini
March 20
The Senate votes in favor of a recommendation not to allow Interior Minister
Salvini to stand trial for abuse of power and kidnapping when he refused to
allow boat migrants to land in summer 2018 (see August 2018). A
Senate commission that handles elections and immunity issues has recommended
that the trial should not take place. 237 out of 61 members of the Senate
support the proposal. A Sicilian court has wanted to raise the case against
Salvini (see January 2019) and a special ministerial tribunal
consisting of three randomly selected judges has ordered that a legal process
against Salvini be initiated. However, Parliament can stop a trial if the MEPs
believe that a minister has acted in the interests of the state and should
therefore have immunity, which has now happened in the Senate.
The Democratic Party gets new leader
4th of March
The Democratic Party (PD) elects Nicola Zingaretti as new party leader. It
has taken over a year for the party to appoint a new leader since Matteo Renzi
resigned in March 2018 following the defeat in the parliamentary elections.
February
End of the conflict between Italy and France
February 15
The diplomatic quarrel between Italy and France comes to an end after a
telephone conversation between Italian President Sergio Mattarella and President
Emmanuel Macron. Shortly thereafter, France sends back its ambassador to Rome.
At the same time, Mattarella receives an invitation to meet Macron in Paris.
Luigi Di Maio's party At the same time, the Five-Star Movement is openly
refraining from cooperating with the Yellow West, which is believed to be
propagating violence.
Tens of thousands demonstrating against the government
February 9
Mass demonstrations are held in Rome against the seated populace government.
Several unions are behind the protests against the government's strict
immigration policy and racism in the country, as well as against unemployment
and inequality. According to some media sources, close to 200,000 people
participate in the demonstrations.
France calls home its ambassador
February 7
According to the French Foreign Ministry, the French ambassador to Italy is
called home for "consultations" after Vice Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio met with
members of the Yellow West. The French Government considers that Di Maio, as
representative of the Italian Government, has interfered in France's "internal
affairs". Di Maio defends the meeting that his party The Five Star Movement has
the right to form alliances with French parties in the same way that French
President Macron's party En Marche can cooperate with the center-left opposition
in Italy. Since the right-wing government's entry last year, relations between
Italy and France have deteriorated.
The IMF criticizes planned welfare reforms
6th of February
The government's major investments during the year to partly lower the
retirement age and partly to introduce a basic income receive criticism from the
IMF. According to the organization, the pension proposal will reduce the already
high expenditures for pensions in the state budget and in addition lead to a
reduction in the workforce. At the same time, the IMF believes that the basic
income of € 780 to be introduced for the country's poorest needs to be sharply
lowered. Otherwise, it risks causing people to become dependent on contributions
instead of being encouraged to look for a job.
January
The economy in recession
January 31
Official statistics show that the Italian economy went into a recession
during the last quarter of 2018. GDP then fell by 0.2 percent. The figures for
the period July - September were also minus 0.1%. According to Prime Minister
Giuseppe Conte, the decline was mainly due to the ongoing global trade disputes.
Other analysts believed that confidence in economic policy was negatively
affected by the budget outbreak with the EU in the autumn (see
October-December 2018).
Asylum reception is closed
January 25
The large center for asylum seekers, Castelnuovo di Porto, north of Rome,
will be closed as part of the new tougher immigration legislation introduced at
the end of 2018. The law removes, among other things, the possibility of
obtaining a two-year residence permit for humanitarian reasons, something like a
quarter of the asylum seekers in Italy were awarded 2018. According to the new
law, the treatment of asylum applications must also be changed, which is one of
the reasons why receptions such as Castelnuovo are closed. The authorities are
criticized for the harsh methods used in connection with the closure. Only 300
of the asylum-seeking migrants at the reception have been relocated to other
hospitals. Migrants, including many families, have not been alerted to the
closure, but children are forced to quickly quit school and leave their friends.
About two hundred of Castelnuovo's residents have nowhere to go because they
lost their two-year residence permit. They are now considered to be in the
country illegally and should be sent back to their home countries.
Court: "Salvini can face trial for kidnapping"
January 24th
A Sicilian court announces that Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini,
leader of the right-wing nationalist Lega, may face trial for kidnapping of
migrants. In August, Salvini refused to allow 177 migrants on an Italian rescue
vessel to land ashore after being rescued on the Mediterranean. The migrants
were allowed to stay on board the Italian rescue vessel for over a week before
the Catholic Church in the country decided to accept some refugees while Ireland
and Albania received the rest (see August 2018). The Italian
Parliament will now decide whether to face Salvini before trial or if the trial
should be postponed.
Diplomatic quarrel between Italy and France
January 23
The French Foreign Ministry calls on Italy's ambassador to protest against
Deputy Prime Minister Luigi di Maio urging the EU to impose sanctions on France
for its "colonial policies in Africa". Relations between the countries have
become worse since the Lega and Five Star Movement formed government in Italy.
The migration issue in particular has caused problems. France has criticized the
Italian government for not accepting rescue vessels with migrants and the
Italian government has in turn criticized the French for sending migrants back
to Italy. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has called Emmanuel Macron a
"terrible president" and, along with di Maio, has shown strong support for the
French protest movement "The Yellow West".
Berlusconi is running for the EU elections
January 17
Silvio Berlusconi announces that he will run for office in the European
elections in May. The scandalous former prime minister until last year was not
allowed to hold any public office in the country because he was convicted of tax
offenses. Now he wants to try his luck at the European level where, with his
"experience and ability to convince" he believes he "can play an important role
in getting European citizens to understand that we risk getting away from
Western values".
Regional gas forum is formed
January 14
Seven countries in the eastern Mediterranean agree to establish regional
cooperation on gas extraction, with the Cairo office. Those behind the Eastern
Mediterranean gas forum, which will be the organization's name, are Egypt,
Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. Natural gas
has been found in several places in the eastern Mediterranean in recent years
and some of the countries already have bilateral extraction agreements.
Salvini overrun in migrant agreement
January 10
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini loses a dust on Prime Minister Giuseppe
Conte's reception of migrants. From the outset, Salvini has objected to Italy
receiving migrants from Malta, but may give way. An agreement is made with
Malta, Germany, France and six other EU countries to allow 49 migrants from two
rescue vessels to land in Malta. The vessels have been refused to add to ports
in both Italy and Malta since the end of December. At the same time, the
agreement also reached an agreement on the division of an additional 249 rescued
migrants who have previously been in Malta.
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