Isola della  Scala is a rice production centre and every year the Rice fair takes place there. It’s

the largest event in Italy dedicated to rice, borned in 1966 as harvest celebration. It is

renowned for its signature dish, Risotto all’Isolana, created by Cav. Pietro Secchiati, which

is a traditional recipe.

The main rice variety cultivated locally is Vialone Nano Veronese, which was granted the

European PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) label in 1992, following a lengthy

bureaucratic process (EEC Regulation No. 2081/92). This rice is protected by specific

cultivation and processing guidelines, and thanks to the spring water and unique soil

characteristics of the area, it is a high-quality product with distinctive and unmistakable organoleptic properties.

Since 1979, the Consortium for the Protection of Vialone Nano Veronese Rice has been

operating in Isola della Scala, with the aim of safeguarding rice cultivation. Today, the

Consortium includes around thirty members, including producers and rice mills.

Rice is an annual plant belonging to the grass family (Gramineae), and it is one of the essential

food crops in human nutrition. Originally, two species were cultivated:

• Oryza sativa, an Asian species and the most important one, which later diversified into

three subspecies: Indica, Japonica, and Javanica.

• Oryza glaberrima, an African species whose cultivation is steadily declining.

Indica, cultivated in India, is more resistant to adverse weather conditions and produces

long, slender, and translucent grains. It is the oldest variety, as evidenced by archaeological

finds in eastern China and northern India dating back to the 6th and 5th millennia BC.

Japonica, suited to temperate zones and introduced from China to Japan, has short grains

with starch often condensed into pearls and sometimes glutinous. This group includes plants

with higher productivity and better adaptability to various environments. It is from Japonica

that all the rice varieties grown in Italy have been derived through hybridization.

Among the most important varietal groups in terms of cultivation area are: Vialone Nano,

Carnaroli, Arborio, Cripto, Roma, Baldo, Lido, Alpe, Loto, Europa, Padano, Sant’Andrea,

Balilla, and Ribe.

Javanica, widespread in the Indonesian islands, is characterized by long, wide grains and is

the least important of the three.

Rice arrived in the West thanks to the expeditions of Alexander the Great. It appeared in Italy

(Sicily and Calabria) around the 6th century thanks to the Arabs, but real commercial trade

began only at the end of the 15th century.

After rice was introduced and became known in Southern Italy, it found its ideal environment

in the Po Valley (Veneto, Lombardy, and Piedmont).

Given the growing importance of rice production in Italy over the years, the National Rice

Authority (Ente Nazionale Risi) was established in 1931 to protect the different varieties

produced in the country.

Based on grain size, Italian-produced rice has been divided into four categories: Fino,

Semifino, Superfino, and Comune.

The main task of the National Rice Authority is therefore to prevent the mixing of rice varieties

belonging to different groups as well as those belonging to the same group but different

varieties.