Rice, the harvest begins. Italy is the largest rice field in Europe: increasing cultivated land

An average harvest both in terms of quality and the timing of the first combines entering the fields: this is what emerges from the producers who kicked off the rice harvest in Italy these days. The year has seen a 4% increase in the total national surface area dedicated to this cereal, and has not shown any particular problems from a meteorological point of view, except for a few temperature fluctuations in recent weeks. For indications on final yields, it will be necessary to wait for the drying and husking phases, but the Ente Nazionale Risi anticipates that the first analyses "indicate acceptable yields".

Based on claims submitted by rice growers this summer, the total area under rice in Italy is estimated at 235,450 hectares, an increase of 9,300 hectares compared to 2024. Sowings of Lunghi A and Lunghi B are increasing, while the areas of Tondi and Medi are estimated to decrease. The overall figure confirms Italy as the leading rice producing country in Europe, and first in terms of extension. The national leader is Piedmont, with around 117,000 hectares cultivated this year, mainly concentrated in the two main rice-growing provinces of Vercelli and Novara. In the Vercellese area alone, which last week hosted the first edition of the Risò festival in the presence of the minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida, 70% of Piedmont's rice fields are kept. This is followed by the province of Novara and smaller plots between Alessandria, Biella and Turin. Rice cultivation in Lombardy, on the other hand, involved more than 95 thousand hectares, concentrated mainly in the province of Pavia with about 80 thousand hectares. This is followed by the provinces of Milan, Lodi and Mantua. Vercelli, Novara and Pavia alone cover 90 per cent of national rice cultivation, with an estimated production of around 1.4 billion kilos of paddy rice per year.

"From the first indications from the companies," commented the president of Ente Risi, Natalia Bobba, "we can say that we are within the average of other years, both in terms of quality and the start of the harvest. At the moment, acceptable yields are emerging, but everything is still premature, because the highlight of the harvest will be next week, weather permitting'. Coldiretti also points out that in order to be able to accurately quantify the quantities, it will be necessary to wait for the evolution of the weather in the coming weeks, and the start of the drying and husking phases, 'with the hope, however,' they comment, 'that production can follow the increase in surface area seen this year.

The 2025/2026 marketing year falls in a particularly significant year for the history of rice, celebrating the 80th anniversary of Carnaroli, the world's best-known risotto variety, and the 100th anniversary of the first crosses between varieties, which took place at the former Experimental Rice Cultivation Station in Vercelli. But it is also a campaign on which there are many unknowns linked to production costs and imports of foreign products at zero tariffs. These issues were highlighted during the conference held a week ago at Vercelli's Teatro Civico in the presence of nine ministers and agriculture delegates from European rice-producing states, including Minister Lollobrigida. On that very occasion, the birth of Eurice, the European alliance for the future of the rice sector, was announced.