The roar of the motorcycle engine of Dario Vicini, a farmer from northern Italy, shook the warm blood in his dry field. The worst drought in the last 70 years to hit the region and the uncharacteristic heat in the region left Vicini completely drying the rice field and leaving the plot broken hearted. For farmers, climate change is a real blow, Vicini describes that he lost close to 90% of his income and, like him, many of his friends in the industry.
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“Under normal circumstances, I would never have been able to ride my motorcycle over the field,” Vicini explained to Agence France-Presse. “At this time of the year, the plants would be up to my knees and the rice field would be flooded,” he said. “Here they are,” described Vicny in despair, “small and dry.”
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Vicini’s Stella Farm, located in the village of Zema in the Po Valley, 70 kilometers (43 miles) southwest of Milan, is part of Italy’s “Golden Triangle” of rice fields. The leading rice growing area in Europe – which supplies Italy and the world with the famous Arborio variety that stars in risotto recipes and Italian cuisine in general.