Italian wine: the challenges of the sector between climate change and markets

Wine is a heritage of Italian culture but many issues including the changing climate, markets and consumption put at risk a fundamental sector for the agri-food economy of our country. This is stated by Cristian Maretti, president of Legacoop Agroalimentare, who warns that "promotion alone is not enough: the sector needs policies capable of accompanying it in the face of overlapping challenges" and takes stock of the situation in the days in which the planning of the institutional commercial dedicated to Italian wine, promoted by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, restarts.

Falling yields due to global warming, an earlier harvest than ever before, uncertain international markets amid tariffs and geopolitical tensions, changing consumption: these are the open fronts on which the future of one of the most identifying sectors of Italian agri-food is being played out.

The main issue concerns the climate. Global warming, recalls Maretti, is no longer an abstract threat but a factor that already affects yields and the quality of production today, particularly affecting hilly areas, where low yields would make targeted interventions necessary, starting with the strengthening of irrigation infrastructures.

The president of Legacoop Agroalimentare is also worried about the proliferation of new vineyards: the current system allows the planting of almost 7 thousand new hectares every year, a pace that the Legacoop Agroalimentare wine coordination has been asking for some time to temporarily suspend, together with a strengthening of liquidity tools for cooperative businesses.