ITALY: Hailstones as big as table tennis balls and torrential rain have destroyed large swaths of basil grown in Italy, sparking fears of a shortage of the famous alla Genovese pesto sauce from which it is made.
The extreme weather hit the area of Pra, west of Genoa, with such force that it shattered panes of glass on dozens of greenhouses where the basil is grown. Further damage was caused by a second storm.
About 80 per cent of the basil crop, grown in an area known as the Podesta plain, was lost, and the cost of the incident is put at €4 million.
Volunteers from Genoa's civil protection squad are helping agricultural workers clear up the mess, but growers have said that a second cycle of basil, due to be seeded in September, will also be affected and that production will not return to normal until March 2007. The regional authority in Liguria is being asked for financial assistance following the disaster.
Pesto, made with basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and grated cheese, has been known since Roman times and probably originated in north Africa. It can be made around the world, but only growers from the area of Pra are entitled to call their sauce pesto alla Genovese, the product having been recognised by the EU as being of authentic artisan origin. Basil leaves from this area, which benefit from the microclimate and alkaline soil, are small and intensely flavoured.