Epicentre of the first earth tremor on 20th May 2012.
Damage to agriculture
Emilia-Romagna is a very lively region both in the industrial and in the agricultural sectors. In the first days of June 2012, 7,000 farms had been affected, 2,000 farms were seriously damaged, destroyed or to be rebuilt to be adapted to the new anti-earthquake rules. In economic terms, there are €705 million damages.
The plants of traditional cheeses "Parmigiano Reggiano" and "Grana Padano" were particularly damaged – damage for €220 million – due to the collapse of piled pieces of cheese in maturing storehouses. Other €15 million damages were calculated in the balsamic vinegar sector. There are 8,000 jobs at risk in the food sector today.
Damage to dairies.
Apart from 400 million damage caused to farms (barns, stables, storehouses), 70 million Euro are needed to guarantee safety and repair drainage, irrigation, watering plants to normality.
Cracks in the ground.
There is a new phenomenon called "soil liquefaction", where underground sands spill out of the soil, invading cultivated land and causing more cracks in houses and storehouses.
Underground sands surfaced from soil after the earthquake.
As far as the fruit sector is concerned it is not easy to calculate damages because fruit and vegetables were not in storehouses during the earthquake but they were still in the fields.
Real troubles for the fruit and vegetable sector may be irrigation (a lot of plants are in difficulties), availability of harvest tools (a lot of machines and tools are still in collapsed storehouses) and stock. An exact estimate for this sector can be made later.
What is sure is that about 100 hectares included among Modena, Ferrara, Bologna and Mantova are without water due to the damage to plumbing systems caused by the earth tremors and landslides in some riverbeds which affect the regular water flow.
One of the first consequence of the earthquake was the suspension of the irrigation systems in the huge Italian plain "Pianura Padana", where a lot of agricultural goods are produced, such as fruit and vegetables, wine grapes, rice and "Parmigiano Reggiano" cheese.
Abate Fetel pears.
80% of Italian pear production involves the provinces of Modena, Ferrara and part of Bologna and now its harvest is at risk in case of a lack of irrigation.