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“Really complicated season but we will remain European leaders”

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“Really complicated season but we will remain European leaders”

“We are leaders in Italy and in Europe, we could never abandon rice production: we are going through a difficult period but the mirror mosaic will remain in its place”. The message of hope comes from Giovanni Chiò, one of the owners of the agricultural company Battioli Paola, who cultivates about 250 hectares in the area of ​​San Pietro Mosezzo, a small rice-growing center between the provinces of Novara and Vercelli. The company markets the product under the “Precise Rice” brand, and the Battioli family has been linked to the land and agricultural activity for 150 years: the company cultivates meadows, cereals and raised dairy cows. Since the 1970s, it has dedicated itself to rice and crops for rotation, and like hundreds of other businesses in the area, it has suffered from water shortages this year. «The rice harvest is almost complete – says Chiò, who also holds the role of president of Confagricoltura Novara -. Already in June we lost a tenth of the company’s production, because some areas where less water would have arrived were excluded due to the drought. After that, the lack of water resources, and the heat peaks, created sterility in the seedlings, which appear with empty grains. And in areas where the water has arrived too late, the ear of rice is less flowered. In terms of quality, we are average, unfortunately we are missing 10-15% of production this year ».

How did you try to limit the damage? «By halving the area used for rice to be used for soy», explains Chiò. In addition to rising prices and water supply problems, the company had to bear extra expenses. “For example, the investment in a system for sprinkler irrigation – explains the entrepreneur -: despite the halving of the rice area, there were still problems to get the water to the fields”. The system runs on diesel, and this is where the price increases chapter opens: «The cost of diesel has tripled since 2021 – comments Chiò -, and to this must be added other increases. Urea, a fertilizer, from 30 euros per quintal in 2021 has increased to 90-100 this year. The alternation of crops was also decided by virtue of the cost increases. Soy takes less time to dry and lower temperatures, while rice takes longer and higher temperatures. We are waiting with great concern for the electricity bill, for example we have seen that some stables have tripled or quadrupled their electricity costs. The same bleeding will also affect us: last year the diesel fuel to operate the dryer cost us 40-50 cents per liter, this year 1.20 euros ». For the future? “There must be a plan B and a plan C – concludes Chiò -, even if we know that next year we will leave already lame due to some works concerning Lake Maggiore, one of our sources for water in addition to the Canal Cavour. In general there will be a reduction in the area destined for rice, but in Piedmont we cannot abandon this cultivation that sees us as leaders ».

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