October 2, 2009

Italy is likely to import more grains this year, as bad weather and low prices hit domestic production of wheat and corn, according to agriculture experts on Thursday (Oct 1).

Italy's 2009 soft wheat output fell 15.1 percent to 3.2 million tonnes and output of durum wheat plunged 39.4 percent to 3.1 million tonnes, according to a study by agriculture research centre ISMEA.

Italian corn production fell 13 percent to 8.52 million tonnes, said ISMEA.

Smaller planted wheat areas and lower yields per hectare contributed to falls in output, according to the research which was based on July data for wheat and early September for corn.

Soft wheat planted areas eased 1.1 percent to 694,269 hectares this year and yields dropped 14.1 percent to 4.6 tonnes per hectare. Corn areas rose 0.4 percent to 995,683 hectares but yields fell 13.3 percent to 8.6 tonnes per hectare.

In July, Italy's Agriculture Ministry said wheat output fell more than 20 percent this year.

Farmers, disappointed by falling wheat and maize prices are likely to cut further planted areas when they start sowing campaigns this autumn, farming experts said.

As the potential of imports raises, traditional exporters, such as France, Germany and Austria would have to fight an increasing competitive pressure from cereals coming from the Black Sea region, which has boosted quality in the past few years, said experts.