| Abstract: | During the last twenty years Italian agriculture has undergone a process of fast growth but slow development: in spite of a sustained increase of gross agricultural production, intrasectoral and intersectoral income disparities become wider and the agricultural trade balance shows a mounting deficit. Both the CAP and national policy bear some responsibility in engendering these kind of trends. Community market and price policy has accorded to Mediterranean products levels of protection and support lower than those enjoyed by continental commodities, and its structural policy has been unable to provide satisfactory answers to those problems that show high regional specificities. National policy has unduly neglected critical areas such as agricultural research and extension, as well as those public actions needed to improve market structures and performance. |
