Government Policy ( primary )

• In 1950 the government introduced the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno.
• Latifundia were distributed among 100,000 tenant farmers.
• New farms were created ranging from 5 ha in low lying areas to 50ha in upland areas.
• Education of farmers occurred including how to grow high paying cash crops e.g. citrus fruits and how to grow traditional crops e.g. vines more intensively.
• Drainage schemes and irrigation schemes have been introduced.
• Wells were dug and water was piped from reservoirs.
• These improvements benefited low lying areas e.g. Metapontino.
• Farmers used to produce low yields of crops such as wheat and olives. They now produce high value vines, citrus fruits, flowers and salad crops.
• Farms are 10 times more productive than in the past.
• Communication links were improved to give quicker access to markets in Northern Italy e.g.  a new motorway called the Autostrada del Sol was built.
• The Cassa ended in 1984, 70% of the £20 billion was spent on agricultural reform.
• Positive impacts: cooperatives were formed giving better access to markets, malarial swamps were drained. This increased productivity eg. Mezz is now the  largest producer of olive oil in the world and farming has become more mechanised and intensive.
• Negative effects: These improvements have mainly benefitted lowland areas, upland areas remain largely unaffected. There has been  overproduction of some crops e.g. tomatoes This reduces market prices for all farmers.