Ticino farmers revive traditional polenta corn

Ticino farmers have revived traditional maize varieties once threatened with extinction, turning polenta corn into a niche product that helps preserve the region’s agricultural heritage, SRF reports.

Maize arrived in Europe after the discovery of America and gradually spread across northern Italy. In Ticino, cultivation became established mainly between the 17th and 18th centuries and grew increasingly important during the 19th century.

Farmers recognised that maize produced higher yields than traditional grains such as rye. Polenta gradually replaced grain and chestnut-based dishes and became a staple of rural families, sometimes being served several times a day.

The situation changed rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s, when hybrid maize varieties bred mainly for animal feed became widespread. Their much higher yields made traditional non-hybrid varieties less attractive economically.

“Ticino red maize, for example, a non-hybrid maize, has significantly lower yields,” said Alessio Reboldi, a third-generation farmer. The abandonment of older varieties threatened not only the crops but also part of the agricultural heritage linked to the production of polenta flour.

Interest in varieties suitable for polenta flour returned between the late 1990s and early 2000s. Reboldi said the revived varieties also have valuable culinary qualities, adding that they are particularly well suited to polenta and flour.

In 2025, Tessin farmers founded OriginTI, a cooperative promoting the cultivation of glass maize for polenta flour in the canton. It now grows four main varieties: red Ticino maize, a historic variety associated with the region; classic yellow maize; Corvina, linked mainly to the Locarno area and originally from Spain; and white maize, which is produced in smaller quantities.

Most of the crop is milled into flour. A smaller share is sold as Ticino popcorn maize in the form of kernels.

Glass maize varieties have a grain structure that makes them particularly suitable for milling and processing into polenta flour. Compared with animal-feed maize, the grains have a more rustic consistency, which gives the finished product a firmer bite.

Maize farmers face rising costs, competition and increasingly difficult climate conditions. Reboldi said the main challenge was keeping costs low enough to remain competitive in wholesale markets. Wildlife damage and extreme weather also pose problems, including severe drought this year and unusually heavy hail two years ago.