Italian rice puts pasta in the shade during COVID-19 pandemic

Europe's top rice producer Italy has seen consumption of the staple rise throughout the coronavirus pandemic, putting even pasta in the shade. | A rice plantation near Robbio, Lombardy.

It's not just popular at home either - China itself has even signed a deal to import Italian rice. | A tractor sowing rice in a water submerged plantation near Robbio, Lombardy.

The Chinese have their eyes on varieties used to make typical risotto dishes such as medium-grained Carnaroli, Arborio, Roma or Baldo. | A tractor sowing rice in a water submerged plantation near Robbio, Lombardy.

"It is because our rice is better quality than that cultivated in China," says Stefano Greppi, Pavia province president at Italy's main agricultural union Coldiretti. | A tractor sowing rice in a water submerged plantation near Robbio, Lombardy.

Himself the owner of a nearby rice farm, Greppi welcomes the recent signing, during the pandemic, of an agreement allowing Italy, which produces more than half of European rice output, to export rice to China. | Owner of the Greppi farm of Rosasco and President of the Pavia Federation of Farmers (Coldiretti) Stefano Greppi next to a rice plantation near Robbio, Lombardy.

That is a boon for producers in the provinces of Pavia, Lombardy, Vercelli and Novara (both in Piedmont) which account between them for 95 percent of national production. | Italian farmer Sergio Lombardi at his rice plantation near Robbio, Lombardy.

"It's a bit like selling ice cream to the eskimos," quipped daily Il Corriere della Sera the day after the export protocol was signed in April. | A row of trees reflected in the waters of a submerged rice plantation near Robbio, Lombardy.

"The doors of the huge Chinese market are opening to rice (and risotto) cultivated in the countryside around Pavia," added the newspaper, explaining that "native imitations of Italian risotto" already exist in China. | A tractor sowing rice in a water submerged plantation near Robbio, Lombardy.

Spread over 220,000 hectares (545,000 acres) and cultivated by 4,200 producers in all, Italian rice production totals an annual 1.5 million tonnes. The country boasts more than 200 varieties in all, each with its own peculiarities. | A tractor sowing rice on dry land in a plantation near Robbio, Lombardy.

Even so, Europe is a mere lightweight when it comes to global production. It has just 0.4 percent of the total world output of 500 million tonnes a year, 90 percent of that Asia-based. | A tractor sowing rice on dry land at a plantation near Robbio, Lombardy.

A rice plantation being submerged in water near Robbio, Lombardy.

A tractor sowing rice in a water submerged plantation near Robbio, Lombardy.