In 2023, Italian rice fields lost 8,000 hectares

The national area dedicated to rice cultivation in 2023 was 210,239 hectares, down by over 8,000 hectares (-3.7%) compared to the last campaign. This is certified by the definitive data from the Rice Authority which, at a varietal level, testify to losses of areas to the detriment of Tondi and Lunghi B rices, with reductions of 19.1 and 10.6% respectively on an annual basis, corresponding to over 18,000 fewer hectares in absolute value. On the contrary, the areas dedicated to rice of the Lungo A variety group increased significantly (+10.6%), largely destined for the internal market, with a recovery of over 9,500 hectares, however not sufficient to compensate for the losses of the other two typologies. Finally, for Medium rices, which however represent a minority share of the national rice-growing areas (just 4%, compared to 47.4% for Long A, 25.2% for Tondi and 23.4% for Long B) , the final figures show an increase of 7.5%, which adds another 591 hectares to this year's negative ...