Sicilian Renaissance. Not only Ancient grains but also rice in Sicily, in the recovery of millennial traditions. Once again protagonists are farsighted entrepreneurs, with the support of the University of Catania.
Rice in Sicily, the rebirth
The heart and human reason reach heights that agrofinance does not even imagine. Thus – in a historic period where the markets and the spread seem to also dominate democracy – there are those who are interested, between the Plain of Catania and the Enna hinterland, in the renaissance of rice cultivation in Magna Graecia.
A team of researchers from the University of Catania (Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Di3A), two Sicilian farmers (Angelo Manna and Sebastiano Conti) and a great expert in rice cultivation (Massimo Biloni). Engaged on both fronts of production – with economic and employment objectives – and university research, where cereal growing renews its original importance in the regional ecosystem.
Paolo Caruso, researcher at the Di3A department of Catania as well as technical director of Simenza, Sicilian peasant seed company, sfollows live the entire production cycle, from seed recovery to harvest.
‘Rice, from an agronomic point of view, can find optimal conditions in some areas of Sicily to express its productive potential, provided that there are significant water resources, heavy and well-leveled soils.
The most extensive crops are found in the territory of the Plain of Catania, in the border area with the province of Syracuse.
In Sicily, thanks to the absence of soil fatigue phenomena, rice can be grown under organic farming. This peculiarity represents a new commercial opportunity for farmers, considering that the quantity produced today is sold quickly and at prices that adequately repay investments’ (Paolo Caruso, researcher University of Catania, Di3A).
Rice in Sicily, the millenary history
The history of rice in Sicily has an ancient, millenary origin. Diodorus Siculus from Egira (60-30 BC.C.), near Enna in Bibliotheca historica, was one of the first authors in the West to mention it. Land cultivations spread in the 8th century AD, in contemporary with the spread of the cereal in Spain.
The Sicilian arancini – now celebrated as the quintessential island street food – are in fact attributed to the spread of rice in Sicily, as well as to the Arab culture that settled there in the 9th century AD, after the Byzantines. Where the cereal is the primary ingredient of the culinary preparation, originally filled with meat and saffron, in the iconic spherical shape.
252 hectares cultivated with rice were recorded in 1912 in the province of Syracuse (Augusta, Lentini and Carlentini), another 275 hectares in the of Catania (Ramacca, Paternò, Belpasso and along the Simeto river). The subsequent abandonment is to be attributed a to political reasonsand economic. Already after the Unification of Italy various measures had been undertaken to discourage Sicilian cultivations, instead favoring those in Piedmont and Lombardy. During the Fascist twenty-year period, reclamation operations were carried out that substantially reduced the swampy and marshy areas where the crops were concentrated, and thus they definitively disappeared.
Rice in Sicily, the challenges to face
The challenges to face are lucidly described by Paolo Caruso. ‘Although a recovery process has recently been restarted, for a significant spread of rice cultivation, a problem related to the integration of the supply chain adds to the pedoclimatic factors. Unfortunately, the produced grain cannot be 'huskered' and possibly 'polished' locally, due to the absence of facilities suitable for post-harvest operations’.
The cereal harvested on the Island, to receive the minimum processing necessary for its market release, must therefore cross the Strait of Messina and reach Sibari (CS), where the nearest complete supply chain is active. Or Vercelli, one of the most important production centers in Europe.
The hope is therefore to obtain a specific measure, in the next P.S.R., dedicated to the integration of this supply chain.
Federica Genovese and Dario Dongo
Bibliography
Renzo Angelini, 2008. The Rice (Cultivation & Culture)
Maria Concetta Calabrese, 2012. Barons Entrepreneurs in Modern Sicily Michelangelo and Giuseppe Agatino Paternò Castello of Sigona, Maimone Publisher.
Prof. Sac. Paolo Cultrera, 1869. Catalogue of Sicilian agricultural products
Renzo Angelini, 2008. The Rice (Cultivation & Culture)
History of Sicilian sugar / Carmelo Trasselli ; introduction by Orazio Cancila. – Caltanissetta ; Rome : S. Sciascia, 1982. – XXXII, 346 p.
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT – Food Times) and Égalité.
