Facts and considerations Old rural culture has always been cautiously afraid of leap years. In the 2012 leap year we witnessed a catastrophic earthqua...

The world of agriculture and the food industry have suffered serious damage; the systematic devastation in the impact areas of the earthquake is evident for all to see. Farm buildings have totally or partially collapsed or are severely damaged. Houses, stables, barns, outbuildings, furnaces and edifices that were widely used as warehouses and farm equipment deposits have, in many cases, been reduced to rubble. The most obvious and serious repercussions have been with regard to property. Houses will need to be renovated or reconstructed, while buildings used as warehouses or machinery deposits must be replaced with new, more rational earthquake-proof structures. Damaged equipment must be replaced or repaired. In the areas most affected by liquefaction (the towns of Sant'Agostino and Mirabello) cracks of various dimensions have opened in the land, small sand volcanoes and craters have appeared and there have been floods of water and mud. Artesian wells and irrigation channels - fundamental for the regulation and flow of water used for irrigation and drainage during rainstorms - have also undergone damage. Products faired better (if we don't take into account the loss of warehouse and finished goods), although this was to be expected. But unfortunately a persistent drought that lasted for several months resulted in a vertical collapse of farm incomes as a result of plots of soybeans and corn not being harvested, the effect of aflatoxins on corn, poor sugar beet crops and undersize fruit, together with high costs induced by emergency irrigation. Could our grandparents have been right about leap years? How can we face the coming year? Undoubtedly with the same strength of mind with which the emergency was
faced from the start. With pragmatism we have rolled up our sleeves and tried to save what could be saved - especially equipment and warehouse goods - removing tiles and rubble and already planning reconstruction. It is remarkable that in a country where, unfortunately, earthquakes are so common, no one has thought of creating a "Code of Behaviour" or "Consolidating Act" at a national level, drawing from the experience gained over decades of disasters. Getting back to agriculture, I would like to express a wish: that in dealing with the reconstruction of rural property the public administration demonstrates swiftness, transparency and common sense, avoiding suffocating bureaucracy; and that company owners, who have suffered real damage, seize this opportunity to carefully rationalize the necessary investment costs.