Valle d'Aosta

Agriculture in the Aosta Valley has now completed that phase of revision and modernization which has led, from an autarchic rural economy, to an agricultural economy specialized in high quality products.

The main aspect of regional agriculture is given by the breeding of cattle, which currently number around 47,000 of which around 17,000 are dairy cows. Given this supply of its own milk, the Aosta Valley has developed its own dairy industry, whose best-known product is the cheese with a protected designation of origin: “Fontina”, which has recently also been recognized at a European level.

At a regional level, approximately 270,000 wheels weighing a minimum of 8 kilograms each are produced every year, which are individually verified and marked by the “Fontina Producers Consortium of the Aosta Valley”.
Of the regional surface area considered productive, approximately 55% is made up of forests, while the remaining part is made up of meadows and pastures.

The products of regional agriculture are those typical of mountain areas, mainly: rye, potatoes, apples and pears.

Approximately 600 hectares of the central valley are cultivated as orchards, almost entirely dedicated to apples and pears, divided into some typical mountain varieties, including: “reinette”, “golden” and “starking”.

A highly specialized sector, even if not from a quantitative point of view, is that of viticulture, which has managed to qualify its production with wines with a controlled designation of origin known throughout the world.

There are also around 700 beekeepers present in the Aosta Valley area who, with an average of 10-12 hives each, produce around 1,250 kilograms of honey on an annual basis. Typically Aosta Valley honey is divided into three categories: wildflower, chestnut and rhododendron.

Scroll to Top