Climate-resistant wheat trials in Emilia-Romagna point to Alpine farming's future

Researchers in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region, the country's 'Food Valley', are developing climate-resistant wheat varieties to secure the future of pasta, France 24 reported this week. The focus is on the crop's main ingredient, wheat, with scientists testing strains that can tolerate higher temperatures and reduced rainfall.

The work comes as Italy's agricultural sector confronts the reality of a changing climate: the current heatwave, which has put all 27 major cities on red alert, is only the latest in a series of extreme events that have hit crops from the Po valley to Sicily in recent years, according to the Guardian.

For Valle d'Aosta, the Emilia-Romagna trials carry a particular resonance. This valley's agriculture is built on hardiness — rye, potatoes and forage crops grown at altitudes where the growing season is short and the conditions unforgiving. But the same climate pressures driving the wheat research are already altering what can be grown here.