Pulses production in Italy: trade, marketing and policy issues

Abstract

Italian pulses production has sharply fallen since the middle of the last century and the role that pulses played has diminished at both the agricultural and food levels. This is the result of several factors that are analysed in this article, among which the most important can be identified in the low profitability compared to other crops, mainly cereals, the historic collapse of domestic consumption and a strong competition from foreign producers. Conversely, in recent years, different signals appear to delineate a possible framework for recovery for legumes: the first of these is represented by the recent reversal trend in domestic consumption, due to healthy reasons and a fall in meat consumption. The favourable trend of organic consumption can also be considered as a positive factor for pulses. However, the focus point for pulses future perspective is the recent development of the European policy (2014-2020) that planned several actions in support of them, such as coupled payments and the provisions of greening rules. These policies aim to support the training effort needed to bring home to producers the importance of legumes in a proper crop rotation that maintains soil fertility and therefore better yields and profitability. In light of this and based on the general crisis in cereals prices, it is possible to be reasonably optimistic regarding the future of the legumes sector in Italy.

Pulses for Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems: The Effect of Origin on Market Price

“…The recommended consumption is about 60 to 100g serving of pulses at least three to five times per week (15-25 kg per year) [5,21]. In Italy, as in other industrialized countries, per-capita consumption of dried pulses has progressively reduced from over 14 kg per year in the 1960s to the current consumption of about 1.5 kg [22,23]. These data show that consumption is still lower than the recommended level, despite pulses now being widely acknowledged as a food of high nutritional value due to their high protein content, low content in calories, and low GI.…”

“…However, in the last few years, domestic consumption of legumes has shown signs of new interest, in concurrence with an increasing consumer awareness of the health effects of the Mediterranean diet [25][26][27], promoting a frequent consumption of vegetables and legumes and a reduction of animal protein intake. At the same time, legumes are basic foods in the eating patterns proposed by vegetarian/vegan diets, whose popularity have increased in recent years [4,21,22]. In Italy, as in many southern Mediterranean countries, consumption of pulses is well-established and local foods are particularly well known and appreciated [28][29][30].…”

“…Although Italian pulse production is just 0.2% of the global total, the role of Italy is not marginal in the European context, as the Italian production of pulses represents 5% of the EU's total production [22]. Italian pulse production declined starting in the 1930s from about 800,000 tons to the current 150,000-200,000 tons, due to a simultaneous decrease in cultivated areas and an improvement in the average yields, which made the loss of production less remarkable.…”

Influence of Organic and Conventional Farming on Grain Yield and Protein Composition of Chickpea Genotypes

“…Legumes are considered the second most important source of human food after cereals, with pulses including only those species belonging to the legume family and whose product is represented by dry grain to be used as it is, according to the FAO classification [1]. Legumes have a key role in crop rotation, especially for their nitrogen-fixing ability, which is particularly advantageous for cereals [2].…”

“…Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is the third most important legume crop in the world, following the common bean and the pea, and one of the major ones cultivated in the Mediterranean basin, with an increasing trend of cultivation also in Italy [1].…”