Agriculture in Italy Agriculture Products Term Paper

But despite its registered success in the United States, the countries in the European Union, mostly Italy, France or Greece, but also others, have become affirmed as strong discailmers of GM. They mostly reacted in such a manner due to their ongoing battle against fast food, originating primarily from the U.S. And leading to unfavourable outcomes for the individual's health. Italy has even subscribed to the Slow Food Movement, promoting the natural growth process, or the cultivation of organic foods, without genetic modifications or the excessive usage of chemical fertilizers. The Italian consumers and producers have become increasingly hostile towards the GM products and some of them have even been banned in Italy and some other European countries, such as Luxembourg or Sweden. However in the beginnings of biotechnology, Italy received the GM products, they now refuse them. Foremost, they implemented a clear set of regulations, including detailed labelling, without which the items are not allowed onto the Italian territory (Toke, 2004).

5. Policies

Realizing the weakening of the national agricultural system, the Italian officials have implemented a wide set of policies aimed to revive and strengthen the sector. The regulations were enforced by the European Union which in early 1960s implemented the Common Agricultural Policy. "The CAP is an EU policy that provides financial support and incentives to farmers and, under recent reforms, the wider rural community. Introduced in the early 1960s, its objectives were to:

increase agricultural productivity assure the availability of supplies ensure a fair standard of living for the agricultural community stabilise markets ensure that supplies reached consumers at reasonable prices" (WWF, 2007) significant stipulation of the Common Agricultural Policy was that of allowing state governments to offer subsidies to the farmers in order to modernize and improve their operations. In their beginnings, the subsidies were granted based on quantities produced; today however, they are given based on land or animals possessed, all of course within the limitations imposed by the European Union."Both of these subsidy systems tend to provide farmers with an incentive to maximise production through intensive agricultural practices, with negative implications for the environment" (WWF, 2007).

6. Conclusions

In the contemporaneous society, technological innovations and improved services play a crucial role and most of the available jobs and GDP contributions come from these operations. However, agriculture remains the primary source of nutrient products, and the declining trends in cultivated land and grown animals have come to worry the state officials. Attempts have been made to integrate the hi-tech developments into agricultural operations, with both success and failure. The primary aim of the governmental institutions is to revive the agricultural sector and to achieve this, they offer various incentives and financial subsidies.

Works Cited

Cohen, J.S., February 1979, Fascism and Agriculture in Italy: Policies and Consequences, the Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 32, No. 1

Cohen, J.S., Galassi, F.L., August 1994, the Economics of Tenancy in Early Twentieth-Century Southern Italy, the Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 47, No. 3

Holloway, L., Cox, R., Venn, L., Kneafsey, M., Dowler, E., Toumainen, H., Managing Sustainable Farmed Landscape through 'Alternative' Food Networks: A Case Study from Italy, the Geographical Journal, Vol. 172

Silverman, S.F., February 1968, Agricultural Organization, Social Structure and Values in Italy: Amoral Familism Reconsidered, American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 70. No. 1

Toke, D., 2004, the Politics of GM Food: A Comparative Study of the UK, USA and EU, Routledge

Weirich, P., October 2007, Labelling Genetically Modified Food: The Philosophical and Legal Debate, Oxford University Press

2000, Agriculture in the EU, WWF, Retrieved at http://www.wwf.org.uk/filelibrary/pdf/ag_in_the_eu.pdfon June 23, 2008

2007, Genetically Modified Foods and Organisms, Genomics, http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood.shtmllast accessed on June 23, 2008

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