Chapter 8 Regional Patterns of Structural Change in Italian Agriculture

Abstract

This chapter highlights some features of the current structure of Italian agriculture by focusing on the regional patterns of agrarian change. These patterns are followed mainly by comparing the data of the 5th and 6th Census of Agriculture and the data of holdings registered to the Chambers of Commerce. The analysis confirms the Northern-Southern dichotomy of Italian agriculture as the physical and economic dimensions of Northern regions’ holdings are appreciably higher than those in the South. Other traits of farms, not usually included in most traditional analyses, help explain that Northern-Southern dichotomy: the farmers’ educational level and the ICT availability on farms. The agriculture of Southern regions has been affected less by the structural adjustment and has maintained some traits of more ‘traditional’ farming. However, important innovations, such as organic farming and direct selling to ‘consumers in house’, have been adopted more readily by Southern farms. The marked regional duality of Italian agriculture corresponds to the several ways in which farmers and their activities interconnect with territorial development models that have shown a deep regional differentiation.

Citation

De Devitiis, B. and Wanda Maietta, O. (2013), "Chapter 8 Regional Patterns of Structural Change in Italian Agriculture", Ortiz-Miranda, D., Moragues-Faus, A. and Arnalte-Alegre, E. (Ed.) Agriculture in Mediterranean Europe: Between Old and New Paradigms (Research in Rural Sociology and Development, Vol. 19), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 173-205. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1057-1922(2013)0000019010