March 30, 2004

Italy Corn Yields See 25% Reduction As Drought Hits

Italy's corn output in 2003 saw 25% reduction as a result of a severe drought which hit the country, president of Italy's corn growers association Marco Aurerlio Pasti said.

"Last summer was very hard. There was no rain from May to September and very high temperatures," he said.

Pasti said his 2003 yields were about 7 metric tons per hectare (111.5 bushels per acre), down about 2 tons per hectare. The poor yields have forced Italy to import corn and other cereal grains for processing, he said.

Pasti, manages 2,000 acres in the Veneto region of northern Italy. His farm is very large by Italian standards. The average farm size is 15 acres, and 94 percent of the country's farms are less than 50 acres. In addition to corn, he grows soybeans, sugar beats and wheat.

Corn and soybeans grow well on northern Italy soils, but in southern Italy, corn is grown only with irrigation and used mainly for silage production, he said.

"We have very different soils in this region. The soil can change very fast, very good to very arid," Pasti explained. Rainfall also varies greatly, from 20 to 60 inches per year.

Since some of his land is below sea level, he has to pump water out of the land during the winter to make it suitable for planting. Many fields also have irrigation ditches every 50 meters or so, which drains the fields and stores water for irrigation purposes.

"It's not very efficient, but it can be effective," he said.