Italy, a major grain importer in the European Union, has planted more wheat for the 2012 crop and is expected to sow more maize this spring encouraged by high prices on local and international markets, the country's agricultural research centre ISMEA said.
Soft-wheat plantings for 2012 crops are estimated to have risen about 17 percent to 621,000 hectares (ha), with plantings jumping in major northern growing regions, ISMEA said on Friday in the latest estimate of Italian grain plantings.
Soft wheat plantings have risen by 25 percent in Emilia Romagna, by 35 percent in Veneto and by 20 percent in Lombardy, ISMEA said in a report based on data collected in February. Durum wheat area has increased by 13 percent to 1.35 million ha, driven by a 20 percent surge in plantings on the island of Sicily and a 15 percent rise in plantings in the southern region of Puglia and in the central region of Marche.
Maize plantings are expected to rise by about 2.6 percent to about 1 million ha, a level unseen since 2007, ISMEA said citing preliminary forecasts based on estimates for major growing regions of Emilia Romagna, Veneto and Lombardy. Barley plantings have jumped 22 percent to 330,000 ha, powered by a 25 percent spike in sown areas in Emilia Romagna and Lombardy and a 10 percent rise in Veneto and the southern region of Basilicata. Italy's statistic agency ISTAT has estimated a rise of soft wheat plantings in 2012 at 18.6 percent, an increase in durum wheat plantings at 11 percent and a fall in maize areas at about 3 percent, according to data collected in November and December.
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