• Northern Italy’s rice sector is battling record-low water levels, with Pavia growers facing potential losses above $116 million.
• Authorities have introduced rotating irrigation as Alpine lakes and the Po River struggle with severe drought conditions.
• Farmers and water managers are considering storage basins, winter flooding and “water farming” as climate pressure reshapes agricultural water planning.

On Giuseppe Tagliabue’s rice farm near the Po River, ripening yellow fields abruptly give way to bare brown land. Those abandoned plots went without water for weeks, leaving plants unable to reach maturity.

The contrast captures the pressure now facing Italy’s largest rice-growing region. Prolonged heat and scarce rainfall have depleted water supplies during the critical irrigation season.

“Because of this terrible water shortage, we had to make some rather drastic choices,” Tagliabue said.

He directed the limited water available to only part of his farm. The remaining fields were sacrificed to protect the wider harvest.

Record water shortages hit Europe’s largest rice producer

Italy is Europe’s largest producer of rice. About 235,000 hectares were planted in 2025, according to the national rice authority.

More than 80% of production is concentrated in Pavia, Vercelli and Novara. Their farms have historically relied on the Po basin and water flowing from the Alps.

That model is under growing strain.

The Po River Basin Authority has classified drought severity at a high level. Alpine lake reserves are also declining. Lake Maggiore has reached extreme drought conditions, while the Po recently fell to a record seasonal low at Cremona.

Conditions have forced irrigation managers to adopt measures that farmers say exceed even the severe drought experienced in 2022.

“This year, we had to introduce a rotation system,” said Franco Bullano, director of water management at the Est Sesia irrigation consortium.

Different areas now receive irrigation water during alternating weeks. The aim is to spread limited supplies across rice-growing districts in Lombardy and Piedmont.

The system has protected much of the region from the worst losses. Yet the underlying water imbalance remains.

Rice growers face rising financial pressure

For farmers, drought is colliding with weaker economics.

Confagricoltura’s Pavia branch estimates that the local rice industry could lose more than $116 million. The association cited drought, higher production costs and declining paddy rice prices.

Competition from exporters outside the European Union is adding further pressure.

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Tagliabue hopes the fields still receiving irrigation will produce an acceptable harvest. However, he remains uncertain whether those revenues will offset the costs already incurred on abandoned land.

The financial impact reaches beyond a single season. Rice farms depend on specialised dryers, machinery and irrigation systems, making rapid changes in crop choice expensive.

“Our farms are entirely geared towards rice, from the dryers to the machinery,” he said. “Changing crops means changing many other things as well. It’s not that easy.”

Water infrastructure moves up the policy agenda

Water managers are now looking beyond emergency irrigation measures.

One concern is Italy’s growing reliance on melting Alpine ice. Earlier snowmelt can provide water temporarily, but it also alters the seasonal timing of supply.

Farmers are discussing the return of winter flooding, which stores water in fields during periods when supplies are more readily available.

“We ⁠only retain 10 to 11% of rainfall,” Bullano said.

Large reservoirs are another option, although construction could take decades. Est Sesia is instead developing plans for a storage basin that could maintain steadier downstream water flows.

Confagricoltura Pavia director Alberto Lasagna has backed another approach known as “water farming.” It would use agricultural soils as natural reservoirs, storing water beneath rice fields for later use during drought periods.

For policymakers and agricultural investors, the crisis exposes a widening infrastructure challenge. Climate adaptation is becoming inseparable from food security, farm economics and regional water governance.

Italy’s rice belt shows how quickly that challenge can become financial. Without greater storage and more flexible irrigation systems, increasingly scarce water could reshape one of Europe’s most established agricultural regions.