Climate-resistant wheat tested in Emilia-Romagna, a signal for Lombardy's mills

Researchers in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region, the country's so-called Food Valley, are developing climate-resistant wheat varieties to secure the future of pasta, according to a France 24 report. The work focuses on the crop's resilience to the hotter, drier conditions that have marked successive Italian summers, including the current fourth heatwave that has placed all 27 major cities under red alert.

The research matters well beyond Emilia-Romagna's fields. Lombardy, Italy's richest region and the heart of its food-processing industry, hosts some of the country's largest milling and pasta operations. A shift in wheat varieties tested in the Food Valley would ripple through the supply chains that feed Milan's industrial food sector and the export-oriented pasta brands headquartered in the region.

France 24's report, filed by Natalia Mendoza, Laura Roudaut and Tommaso Marrone, details how technology is being applied to the iconic Italian staple's main ingredient. The initiative is a direct response to climate stress that has already disrupted agricultural output across the peninsula this summer.