climate change in the Mediterranean region are pushing the cultivation of durum wheat growing North

ROME-climate change in the Mediterranean region are pushing the cultivation of durum wheat growing North, putting at risk the Italian production of the paste, which may depend increasingly on imports.

"Climate change is making the Mediterranean increasingly inhospitable for the cultivation of wheat that, pushed more and more to the North, will experience pathogens and different environmental conditions," explains Domenico Pinion of the Institute of plant genetics of Cnr of Bari. According to Coldiretti, the Italian production of durum wheat is 4.2 million tonnes, and the country remains dependent on foreign countries for about 40% of its needs.

"Italy, a bit like what happened with silk, by producer country may become totally importer, with heavy economic impact," says Gear. "It is necessary to apply genetic improvement strategies allowing the development of a quality product, able to give sustainable productions within the new scenarios".

BARILLA ITALIAN PASTA AND ' SAFE
"The Italian pasta is safe". This was stated by Emilio Ferrari, Grain purchasing manager of Barilla, in relation to the alarm  about moving northward of the cereal crops on a planetary scale as a result of climate change. Barilla, the world leader in the market for pasta and first processors of wheat in the world (transforms every year approximately 1,400,000 tonnes of durum wheat flour), stresses that operates from years in the research and selection of varieties of high-quality durum wheat in Italy for the production of its pasta.

"Through crossbreeding with varietal Seed Producers, we have developed wheat varieties with appropriate characteristics to different climates across the Country," the Group of Parma in a note. The Norman varieties, for example, is particularly resistant to colder climates, as typical of the Emilia Romagna region (here, moreover, thanks to a framework agreement with the Emilia Romagna region started in 2006, the amount of grain produced locally and used at the mill Barilla in Parma has doubled over the course of 7 years). Another variety is the gold standard, an excellent quality wheat grown in southern Italy. Gold farming has allowed us to replace certain imports of wheat from the desert areas of United States. Barilla plus "will give participating farmers to its cultivation contracts, decision support systems, such as granoduro.net, able to advise the most appropriate agronomic practices to manage climatic trends of different campaigns" announces the group.