On the one hand, pasta is becoming increasingly popular on markets around the world. On the other hand, however, those who grow the raw material are struggling. According to Confagricoltura, prices for high-quality durum wheat in Italy have fallen below 300 euros per tonne, which is less than the average production costs.
Over the past 13 years, the area under cultivation has shrunk by 10 per cent, whilst the proportion of demand met by domestic production has plummeted from 78 per cent to 56.5 per cent. This is not a market crisis, the farmers’ association claims, but “a crisis of production sovereignty”…
