Italy’s Senate gave final approval to a €1.1 billion agricultural support law

Italy’s Senate gave final approval on Thursday, November 5, to the “ColtivaItalia” law, a package worth €1.1 billion aimed at strengthening the country’s farm sector, food supply chains and rural economy.

Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida said the bill passed without any votes against it in the Senate, marking the final step for a measure he said he first presented in 2025. In a statement, he described the law as an effort to address structural weaknesses in agriculture, support domestic production and protect Italy’s high-quality food output. Major farm organizations, including Coldiretti, CIA-Agricoltori Italiani, Confagricoltura and Confcooperative, welcomed the measure and pressed the government to make the money available quickly.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, the law is designed to reduce risks tied to food supplies, improve the availability of quality food at affordable prices and support struggling supply chains and sectors considered strategic for production, exports and jobs. A central part of the plan is €300 million for strategic agricultural supply chains, including measures to improve access to farm products, reinforce local production networks, raise company competitiveness, support crops of strategic interest and back the breeding of native calves.

The law also adds €70 million to Italy’s Food Sovereignty Fund for supply chains in difficulty, including soft wheat, barley, corn and plant proteins. Another €300 million is earmarked for livestock under a program called “Allevamento Italia,” with the stated goal of reducing dependence on imports and boosting domestic beef production and cow-calf operations. During the parliamentary process, lawmakers expanded those measures to include livestock facilities.

The olive sector will receive €300 million for projects tied to the new national olive plan for 2026-2030. The package includes support for companies fighting plant diseases and trying to revive production. It also introduces new protections for olive groves used for products with protected designation of origin and protected geographical indication status, barring their removal for solar or wind projects unless the trees are replanted on the same site or in nearby areas.

For the grain sector, the law sets aside €10 million for wheat supply chain contracts. It creates a tax credit ranging from 20% to 40% for agreements lasting three to five years, a measure the government says is meant to provide more predictable prices and more stable farm income.

The law also includes measures aimed at generational renewal in agriculture. The ministry said €150 million will go to support young and female farm entrepreneurs, with 65% of the funding used for loans and 35% for non-repayable grants. In addition, 8,417 hectares of land managed by ISMEA, the public agricultural services institute, will be made available free of charge for 10 years to people ages 18 to 41, with an option to buy the land later at 50% of its initial value. Municipalities will also be able to expand a local land bank system by identifying and offering unused land for productive use, a step the government says could help counter depopulation and reduce hydrogeological risk.

Research, innovation and digitalization are another part of the law. CREA, Italy’s public agricultural research body, will hire 50 new staff members dedicated to research. Experimental farms run by CREA and agricultural institutes will be eligible for support for precision farm machinery, artificial intelligence, advanced sensors and mechatronics.

The package also contains emergency measures. It creates a national extraordinary commissioner for Xylella, the plant disease that has devastated olive trees in parts of southern Italy. The post will run through December 31, 2028, with a structure of five staff members and three deputy commissioners, backed by €3 million. The law also provides for a moratorium on loans for agricultural, fishing and aquaculture businesses hit by animal disease outbreaks and plant diseases during 2025.

To combat African swine fever, the law provides €1 million for prevention, biosecurity and support for affected businesses, along with €3 million for slaughtering companies. It also funds surveillance and containment measures, including fencing and temporary structures aimed at limiting wild boar movement, as well as support for pork sector businesses storing meat from restricted areas.

The measure expands regulatory tools for oversight and product protection. In cases involving unfair trading practices, the relevant authority will be allowed to issue a warning for violations that can be corrected. A company will then have 60 days to fix the problem and close the case by paying a reduced penalty equal to one-third of the legal minimum fine.

The law also directs €1.79 million to strengthen checks on imported fish products, including the verification of catch certificates and the central maritime fisheries unit of the Coast Guard, which is composed of 20 service members. Another €0.65 million will go to a national database of analytical authenticity profiles, intended to verify the geographic origin, varietal identity and composition of food products.

Other provisions deal with territorial products and resource management. Rules on truffle harvesting are tightened in wildlife-hunting and agritourism-hunting areas, giving managers authority to regulate how and under what conditions truffles may be collected and setting penalties for violations. The law also introduces protections for national vinegar production by banning the use of the word “vinegar” for products not derived from agricultural raw materials and requiring labels to specify the agricultural source.

Wine and olive oil tourism is included as well, with €9.2 million in funding and a provision stating that hospitality services can be offered by farm businesses as part of wine and olive oil tourism activities in rural areas. The law also seeks to reduce red tape by making certain applications handled by authorized agricultural assistance centers immediately enforceable when they do not require discretionary assessment, a change intended to speed access to public funds and other support measures.