The ongoing climate crisis and growing water scarcity are exerting increasing pressure on agriculture in Southern and Western Europe, leading to reduced crop yields, greater risk of land abandonment, and deterioration of soil quality. Despite the extensive literature on irrigation and water use in agriculture, the specific relationship between irrigation availability and changes in the type of farming (ToF) remains insufficiently investigated. This study aims to address this gap by analyzing data from the 2010 and 2020 Italian General Agricultural Censuses conducted by ISTAT, in combination with microdata from the Italian Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), focusing on irrigated farms in Southern Italy. Descriptive analysis reveals that over 60% of irrigated farms specialize in permanent crops and predominantly adopt efficient irrigation systems such as drip irrigation. Between 2010 and 2020, approximately 23.8% of farms changed their ToF; however, these transitions were not generally associated with improvements in productivity or profitability. Results from logistic regression models suggest that structural variables—including Utilized Agricultural Area (UAA), economic size, and demographic characteristics such as the farmer’s gender—play a more significant role in determining changes in the ToF than the presence of irrigation itself. Moreover, the adoption of organic practices and larger farm sizes are positively associated with ToF changes. These findings suggest that while there has been some shift toward less water-demanding and potentially more sustainable crops, the impact of irrigation on such transitions remains limited. The results underscore the need for more targeted agricultural policies and improved data collection to support effective climate adaptation strategies in the sector.

Among its various targets on restoring natural habitats and ecosystems in the EU, the recently adopted Nature Restoration Law (NRL) introduces ambitious targets for restoring surface water bodies (SWBs) as well. Simultaneously, the Italian CAP Strategic Plan for the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy 2023–2027 has been designed to enhance sustainable agricultural practices, including water resource management. This paper provides a comparative analysis of the synergies, gaps, and challenges between these two regulatory frameworks, focusing on sustainable water use in Italian agriculture. A two-level comparative matrix methodology is employed to evaluate the alignment between the NRL’s objectives for freshwater ecosystems and the measures taken by the Italian CAP Strategic Plan on water resources. The results highlight key areas of convergence, existing shortcomings, and necessary steps for aligning Italian agricultural policies with the EU’s water restoration goals. The findings offer insights for policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders engaged in water governance, biodiversity conservation, and agricultural sustainability.

In Italy, agricultural districts have evolved from their original configuration, inspired by industrial district models, towards structures that are more functional and aligned with agri-food policies and territorial development strategies. This process culminated in the institutional recognition of food districts through Law No. 205/2017. Despite not providing a fully unified legal framework, this law brought various forms of districts under a common definition. Today, these entities are regarded as territorial tools intended to promote endogenous development, territorial cohesion and sustainability. This study examines the institutional and regulatory architecture of food districts in Italy from a multilevel governance perspective, focusing particularly on regional differentiation and territorial distribution. The research combines a systematic review of national and regional legislation with an updated map showing the locations of officially recognised districts, classified by typology. The objective is to evaluate the consistency of the regulatory framework and to identify emerging models of territorial implementation. The results reveal a highly heterogeneous institutional landscape characterised by uneven levels of regulatory completeness and differentiated implementation models at regional level. This fragmentation impacts coordination between different governance levels and influences their operational capacity. Overall, food districts emerge as flexible place-based governance instruments, the effectiveness of which depends on the degree of alignment between national legislation and regional regulatory adaptations, as well as the quality of participatory processes at the local level. These findings provide valuable insights for designing integrated territorial development policies and strengthening sustainability transitions within agri-food systems.