The agricultural food sector with more than 11,300 companies (data refers to May 2005) operating in agriculture, hunting, fishing and fish farming, to which are added one thousand companies active in the sector of soft drinks and food processing – is distinguished by the important production of the primary sector and by companies producing mineral water and soft drinks, food pastes and canning industries.
The province of Venice is characterised by premium agricultural products, including some local specialities:

1. vegetable production: asparagus (the white asparagus of Bibione, Giare and Sile is well known), beetroot, chard, artichoke (the violet artichoke of Sant’Erasmo is famous), carrot (the carrot of Chioggia), cauliflower, head cabbage, savoy, cucumber, chicory, onion (typical is the white onion of Chioggia), French bean, kidney bean, fennel, curly endive and prickly lettuce, Brazilian lettuce, cabbage lettuce and kos, aubergine, potato, sweet potato, peppers, pea, tomato (tomato of the Cavallino), leek, radish (radish of Treviso, red radish of Chioggia), celery, spinach, pumpkin (an interesting variety is the round pumpkin of Chioggia), courgette;
2. cereal production: especially corn, barley and soya:
3. fruit production: apricot, khaki, chestnut, cherry, watermelon, strawberry, kiwi (Veneto is the leading Italian producer), apple, melon, peach, pear (the Venetian pear is of ancient production) plum and grape.

The local products of the lagoon province also include Barena honey and Montasio cheese.

The most famous agricultural food sector worldwide is the wine sector, concentrated mainly in the eastern areas of the province of Lison-Pramaggiore around Portogruaro and Piave in the municipality of San Donà di Piave.

The production of DOC wines in 2007 reached a quantity of over 11,400,000 litres, particularly of  the following varieties:

1. Wine of the Lison-Pramaggiore area: merlot, cabernet, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, malbech, refosco dal peduncolo rosso, chardonnay, tocai classico, tocai italico, pinot bianco, pinot grigio, riesling, riesling italico, sauvignon, verduzzo.
2. Wines of the Piave area: merlot, cabernet, cabernet sauvignon, raboso, chardonnay, tocai italico, pinot bianco, pinot grigio, verduzzo.

This production has also included two new DOC wines, recognised in 2004, “Riviera del Brenta” and “Corti Beneditine del Padovano”, whose area of origin is located in the western part of the province bordering with the province of Padua.
The varieties are:

1. Wines of the Riviera del Brenta: bianco, rosso, rosato, novello, pinot bianco spumante, pinot bianco frizzante, chardonnay, tocai, pinot bianco, pinot grigio, merlot, cabernet, raboso, refosco.
2. Wines of the Corti Benedettine del Padovano area: bianco, rosso, rosato, tocai, pinot bianco, pinot grigio, chardonnay, sauvignon, merlot, cabernet, cabernet sauvignon, raboso, refosco dal peduncolo rosso, novello, raboso passito, passito.

The IGT wines (typical of a certain area) whose production in 2007 was around 41,950,000 litres, are represented by:

1. IGT Wines of the Veneto:White also in sparkling and passito version, Red also in sparkling, passito and new wine version, Rosè also in sparkling version
2. IGT Wines of Venice: White also in sparkling and passito version, Red also in sparkling and new wine version, Rosè also in sparkling version.
3. IGT Wines of eastern Veneto: White also in sparkling and passito version, Red also in sparkling and new wine version, Rosè also in sparkling version

 

Fishing-aquaculture is traditionally one of the most important sectors of the Venetian agricultural food sector.
The animated fish markets of Venice and Chioggia daily supply the fisheries of Northern Italy and Europe thanks to the variety of fish which the rivers of the province and the Adriatic sea offer: anchovy, needle-fish, bogue, thin-lip grey mullet, golden grey mullet, flat leaping grey mullet, flat head grey mullet, dogfish, goby and varieties of these fish (paganello, quadrimaculato, tigrato) sea-eel, silverside, striped bream, hake, saddled bream, umbrine, rock goby, smooth dogfish, sprat, plaice, star gazer, weever, monkfish, ray, turbot, salp, dory, white sea bream, scorpion fish, mackerel, sole, Klein’s sole, off shore jack mackerel, tuna, red mullet, megrim. The characteristic products of the area are: eel, bass, cod, gilthead, sardines.

Within the sector, the fishing of molluscs, marine animals characterised by an internal shell (cuttlefish and squid) or without (octopus) or with a protective external shell formed primarily by calcium carbonate (mussels, clams) and called also “fruits of the sea” is very important.
Typical molluscs of local production are: razor clam, mussels, oyster, short-necked clam; the others are represented by: squid, Queen scallop, scallop, clams, sea snail, curled octopus, murex, octopus, cuttlefish, seppiala, truffle, flying squid, clam, longone clam.

To finish, but of no less importance are the crustaceans, water animals with a segmented shell, main body, 5 pairs of legs, 1 pair of claws, pedunculated eyes, 2 feelers, 2 antennule.
These include: grey or schia crayfish, moleca or moeca crab, mantis crab: other crustaceans fished are: lobster, prawn, spider crab, masaneta grab and scampi.
We cannot forget to mention the recognition by the Veneto Region of the “Agricultral-food-Fish Cluster of the Po-Chioggia Delta”, which for the province of Venice is represented by the Municipality of Chioggia.
All the operators of the sector are involved in the cluster, from the numerous co-operatives of fishermen to processing industries, and marketing of the product both fresh and frozen. In particular, the agricultural-food-fishing district of the Po-Chioggia Delta specialises in the production, processing and marketing of marine and lagoon fish, molluscs and crustaceans.