Italy's bad weather has cost farmers millions of euros in damages, a professional farmers' organization said Monday. "Severe thunderstorms and hail damage in many of the mature orchards are at risk of losing more than 10% of crops," a memo from the Italian Confederation of Farmers CIA said, citing losses "amounted to millions of euro".

Torrential rain and hail storms have caused crop and structural damages including field flooding, mud build-up and salt erosion on Italy's farmland from Tuscany to Lazio and Puglia. Summer fruit and vegetable farmers, as well as wheat farmers in these regions, and particularly in the south, are concerned that the inclement whether will affect crop quality as well as jeopardize transport and distribution of product.

"Visibility chaos slows logistics and transport, and thus fresh product distribution and the access to feed and fertilizers," the memo said. Regions in south-central Italy, including Umbria, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata and the island of Sardinia, were on storm alert for the rest of the week.

Source - http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/