Food maize, Italian production down by 25%
Drought and floods have affected yields; for maize for animals, the harvest has fallen by 45%.
2' min read
2' min read
On the one hand drought, on the other flooding rains have dealt a heavy blow to the Italian food maize campaign. According to initial estimates by Ailma, the Italian Food Maize Processing Association, the reduction in yields will be at least 25 per cent. This year in Italy the sowing started late, at least a month late, in some areas even two months. For this reason, the harvest is still in progress, but the forecasts are not rosy. "In order to guarantee a healthy and safe product," explains Massimiliano Carraro, president of Ailma, "companies are being forced to discard significant quantities of maize that do not meet our quality parameters established by the regulations in force, thus further reducing the raw material to be used for food. At present, the decrease in yields is significant, but let us not forget that the harvest is still in progress. Unfortunately, the weather conditions are not helping us and we fear that things may get worse.
On average, Italian maize production for food use stands at one million tonnes per year. This year, however, quantities are not expected to exceed 600 thousand tonnes. This is bad news for the companies that process this cereal to produce everything from beer to pasta, from sweets to snacks. The picture therefore suggests an even more significant recourse to imports, which are already necessary to meet the needs of the agri-food sector. But if in Italy the campaign is sinking hard, in the rest of Europe things are no better: in Eastern European countries, major producers of maize, the fluctuating weather between record heat and heavy rain has caused quite a few problems similar to those in Italy. Moreover, according to the latest FAO index, maize prices have risen worldwide, influenced by water shortages on the main transport routes along the Madeira River in Brazil and along the Mississippi River in the USA.
In Italy, the extreme weather has also negatively affected maize production for animal feed: 'The high temperatures in June and July, much higher than in previous years,' writes Stefano Vaccari, the leader of the PD group in the Chamber's Agriculture Committee, in a note, 'have led to drops in maize and fodder production of 45%.
