Agritourism throws lifeline to Italian farmers

By Svetlana Kovalyova

MILAN (Reuters) - Like many farmers, Martin Busin works from dawn till nightfall, but he still needs the help of his cafe-au-lait cow, Miss, to bring in tourists to keep afloat his smallholding in Italy's mountainous Alto Adige region.

With little farming land and over a million high-cost small farms, Italy started opening farms to tourists in the mid-1960s as a way to revive agriculture. It has been Europe's leader in agritourism ever since.

"Our farm is too small to live off agriculture alone. We needed other activities to survive," said Busin, 44, who with his wife Waltraud, also 44, turned to "agriturismo" some 20 years ago on their small farm in the hamlet of Trodena in the Dolomite mountains.

The farm is profitable thanks to letting two traditionally decorated apartments in the family's house to tourists and to a small spa featuring a sauna and hay bath, which add to the feeling of relaxation given by the sleepy village.

Agritourism began in Italy as an effort to stop an exodus from impoverished villages after the Second World War, especially in the south, as the country was breaking away from its rural past.

Years on, it is still vital for Italy's agriculture, which used to be the main driver for the country's economy and now accounts for just 2 percent of gross domestic product.

Unlike in many European countries, small, family-run farms still dominate Italian agriculture. The average farmer's income has fallen 10 percent since 2000, according to Italian farmers' body Confagricoltura, more than in the rest of the European Union.

High energy, labor and other production costs, a scarcity of natural resources and high social security costs have hit Italian farmers, along with worsening weather conditions and EU subsidy cuts.