The rice that will come

The largest rice-producing region in Europe faces the challenges posed by changes, not only climatic ones. Water management, sowing methods, research and biodiversity: at the heart, the concerns for the harvest but also the vision of the future.

Italy produces 52% of all European rice, but the total cultivated hectares have decreased from 218,000 in 2022 to 210,000 in 2023, reaching a three-decade low in production, continuing a downward trend since 2020. The drought of the previous season evidently prompted some farmers to abandon rice cultivation, but the issue is not solely related to drought.
It's a matter of choices and perspective. On one hand, the land is exploited to maximize yield and production, while on the other hand, there is an awareness that if we don't prioritize the land and the management of water as a common resource, in the long run, there may be no harvest for anyone.

In 2022, the "water war" erupted in Piedmont, as defined by the farmers themselves, due to an unprecedented drought. After 16 months of scarcity, May 2023 saw the return to reassuring water levels, but the problem is far from being resolved. Data on the alternation between periods of drought and heavy precipitation, along with the increase in average temperatures, suggest the ongoing process of "tropicalization" and the future landscape of the Po Valley.

Actually, the landscape has already changed since many farmers have chosen to adopt the "dry seeding" method, which does not involve field irrigation in the early months of the season and requires less labor. However, it requires water in June, the time of greatest need for other crops as well, and it further lowers the water table, reducing the overall availability of the "rice ecosystem."

The individual choice of farmers to adopt this method is understandable, but it is detrimental and unsustainable in the long term for the entire sector and the water management system.

The ongoing change is irreversible, and solutions are needed. In the dry land surrounding the Ente Nazionale Risi, stand out some rows of emerald green seedlings, a result of genetic research aimed at identifying increasingly high-performing and drought-resistant species.

The issue is not just climatic but also a matter of a comprehensive vision. The Polyculturae Association in Rovasenda believes that we must work with and for nature, not against it. Research and experimentation are also carried out here: certification of ancient seeds, pachamatura, and agro-forestry. The goal is to recover lost biodiversity and remain competitive while renouncing any herbicides and insecticides. And to teach citizens and other producers that it is possible to change perspective.

This is a story of water, land, and rice, but above all, it is a story of men and women grappling with a sudden, albeit predicted, change. These are people connected to the land, but largely accustomed to an individual way of producing and thinking, and to a level of income they fear may disappear.

In the mid-19th century, the farmers of Piedmont quarreled over disputes about water. The Count of Cavour, then Minister of Agriculture of the Kingdom of Savoy, succeeded in bring together more than 3,500 farmers to collectively manage water resources. With the Cavour canal, an irrigation system was born that still stands as a masterpiece of hydraulic engineering today.

Looking at the past can perhaps suggest the choices on which the future of a territory and many people depends.