Italian Rice Farmer Brings Conservation to Agriculture
In northern Italy, Alice Cerutti is transforming rice paddies into wetlands
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Room for Peatlands
Centuries ago, Benedictine monks in northwestern Italy transformed wetlands into rice paddies. Alice Cerutti, a farmer in Italy's Varcelli Plain, has restored a third of this area to its natural state, cultivating woods and wetlands that break up the agricultural landscape.
A Habitat in Dry Farmland
Golden rice fields define the Vercelli Plain, an area between Milan and Turin in Northern Italy. Cerutti and her team have planted over 10,000 native plants to restore woods and wetlands, including oaks, alders, ash trees, and hornbeams. It's amazing how quickly nature responds.
Biodiversity Flourishing
Cerruti, 43, has seen a significant increase in butterflies, dragonflies, and other insects since planting the first trees. She took over her family's farm, Cascina Oschiena, in 2012. In fields surrounding the woods, she grows red and black rice as well as heritage varieties that are more resilient and produce smaller but higher-quality harvests.
Natural Fertilizer
Cerutti grows her Carnaroli Classico and Arborio Classico without using "a single gram of chemical fertilizer," she told AFP. Instead, she relies on green manure and legumes. Between rice harvests, Cerutti allows donkeys and as many as 1,200 sheep to graze, naturally fertilizing the soil.
Changing the Way Rice is Grown
Italy is Europe's largest rice producer, but cheap imports, rising costs, and droughts threaten the industry. To save water, growers in the Po Valley are turning to direct seeding in dry soil, breaking with centuries of tradition.
Italian Rice Varieties
Flooding rice fields helps replenish groundwater, agronomist Giovanni Molina told AFP. Growing rice in dry soil may seem to save water, but could turn the fertile Po Valley into a desert over time.
More Drought-Resistant
Heritage rice varieties are more resilient to drought and extreme heat. Carnaroli Classico, in particular, benefits from its fine awns, which may help protect it from temperature extremes. Biodiversity-friendly farming practices, such as flooding fields early, also help crops withstand drought, Cerutti told AFP.
The Joy of Restoration
Cerutti's farm, designated an EU protected area, aims to offset lost income from reduced rice production through educational programs for schools and scientists, as well as guest accommodations. Many fellow farmers thought she was crazy, she told AFP, but restoring nature brings her joy.