The sowing season is off to a good start for rice growing in Piedmont

For Piedmontese rice growers, the sowing season is starting under good auspices. "From the meteorological point of view, we had a rainy winter and early spring, which allowed us to have significant accumulations of snow in the mountains, and the rains on the plains replenished the water table and Lake Maggiore," explains Manrico Brustia, head of the rice and irrigation sector of Cia Piemonte and director of the 'Ente Nazionale Risi'. The beginning of the season is promising and has made it possible to start the first sowings that will continue until mid-May'. From the first data of Ente Risi, which has carried out forecast surveys, an increase of 7 thousand hectares in the area cultivated with rice at a national level is foreseen for 2025, rising from 226 thousand in 2024 to 233 thousand hectares (about half of the new area will be in Lomellina), a figure in contrast with recent years when, in 2022 and 2023, the area was significantly reduced in the most critical areas. With regard to the types of rice, an increase is expected for the cultivation of those for risottos and in particular Arborio and Baldo, while for long Parboiled rice a reduction is foreseen, as well as for some round rice except for sushi, while for Indica the surface area is stable.

"As far as the market is concerned, there are still remunerative prices for risotto varieties such as Arborio, Carnaroli, Baldo and Vialone Nano, while Indica, which is the one most affected by the import problem, has increased by 10% in the last month, also because there are few leftovers,' adds Brustia. 'For Parboiled rice, the price is stable or slightly down for some varieties that are not very remunerative due to oversupply. Also for round rice prices are stable with good demand for sushi varieties,' he adds.

On the subject of the duties applied by the United States, the head of the rice and irrigation sector of Cia Piemonte emphasises that rice represents only 1% of exports to the USA and therefore will not affect them much: 'A 10% duty has been applied to rice, which will then rise to 20%. It is mostly high-end risotto varieties for customers who can afford to spend a little more. Logically we expect that an agreement will be reached and they will be eliminated'.

Rather, it is the agreement with Mercosur that raises the rice growers' concerns because the US duties could go as far as the 'Common Market of South America'. 'The rice supply chain would be penalised by this agreement because rice from Mercosur would rise from 10 thousand to 60 thousand tonnes,' adds Brustia.