Durum wheat: sowing begins in the Foggia area amid high costs and low profitability

Durum wheat sowing is set to begin in mid-November, mainly on land with the highest yield potential, in Puglia. This is a necessary choice between production costs – from high diesel prices to high fertiliser costs – and stagnant prices (still at 30 euros per quintal), with effects on the utilised agricultural area which, according to some estimates, could see a decline of close to 5 per cent compared to that of the previous 2025/2026 season, which stood at 240,000 hectares. The rains in early November have delayed the start of sowing, which, in the Foggia area and province, will almost certainly focus on the land with the highest production capacity , thus neglecting marginal land or diversifying into other crops (such as barley).

“The production costs are extremely high, and if they aren’t covered, the result is bankruptcy,” explains Giuseppe Pampruno of the Apricena agricultural co-operative, founded 50 years ago, with almost 3,000 active members and a turnover of 25 million in the last marketing year. Even the seed producers are complaining because there have been few purchases. Even Filippo Schiavone, president of Confagricoltura, believes a reduction in the UAA is foreseeable, but remains cautious about its possible extent. ‘It will happen and will affect the most marginal areas with the lowest yields. The focus will be on the most productive areas with higher yields, although the key issue remains profitability: with prices at 30 euros per quintal, one can barely cover production costs given average yields of 30 quintals per hectare’. The figures speak for themselves: Ismea confirms, in fact, production costs per hectare of 1,200 euros; with prices at 30 euros and average yields of 30 quintals, this amounts to 900, to which must be added 100 euros in coupled support and 170–180 in direct payments. So it breaks even. The decline is also confirmed by Carlo Maresca, a major durum wheat producer with 460 hectares under cultivation and president of the National Confagricoltura Food Cereals Federation. ‘Everyone will sow on the most productive land precisely to achieve higher yields of up to 50 quintals and thus spread the production costs. The risk is falling below 40 quintals, below which it is difficult to cope with production costs and low prices, but here in the South we have no alternative to durum wheat, so we sow it.”