Farmers in tractors protesting
against European and national agricultural policies and general
hardship blocked a consular road in Rome on Tuesday, causing
disruption to traffic.
The tractors blocked Via Nomentana leading northeast out of the
capital, near a rallying point set up at the height of protests
by farmers earlier this month.
They were on their way back to base after a procession
reportedly involving 150 vehicles in the direction of the nearby
town of Monterotondo.
Earlier in the day two tractors departed from the same rallying
point for a separate protest in Piazza della Repubblica in the
city centre.
"There is a good turnout and other participants are arriving,"
said Roberto rosati, one of the organizers.
"We have blocked the traffic because we want answers," added
another leader, Salvatore Fais.
"The agriculture minister must receive us," he said.
In early February Premier Giorgia Meloni said during a meeting
with agricultural
associations that her government would take action to make sure
farmers' get fair prices for their produce, amid ongoing tractor
protests in many parts of the country.
She also said that a tax-relief measure regarding income-tax
Irpef for farmers would be changed, rather than scrapped
completely, to ensure it is better targeted to those most in
need.
The protests have since waned, also as a result of an apparent
split in the movement and insistence by some of the need to keep
the focus on Brussels.
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