Soft wheat output in Italy, a major grain buyer in Europe, is expected to fall 25 percent this year because of a drop in sown areas, according to preliminary data from Italy's statistics agency ISTAT. Soft wheat output is estimated to have fallen to about 2.21 million tonnes this year from about 2.94 million tonnes in 2010 while sown areas dropped to 448,245 hectares (ha) from 548,867 ha, the data showed.
A wet winter has caused the considerable drop in wheat sown areas this year, Italy's biggest farmers group Coldiretti said last month citing early official estimates.