An Italian cheese war has broken out, with cheesemakers from the Mezzogiorno accusing the Government of Silvio Berlusconi of bailing out hard-pressed parmesan producers in the North to save them from the credit crunch while ignoring the plight of mozzarella makers in the South.

The Italian Agriculture Ministry is buying 100,000 wheels of parmigiano reggiano and donating them to the poor, together with 100,000 wheels of grana padano. The cheese bailout is costing €50 million (£44.6 million), paid for from European Union funds intended for charitable causes.

Parmesan, a hard granular cheese whose quality is highly prized and protected by law, is most often grated over pasta dishes, with grana padano as a more economical alternative. Parmesan makers say their sales are off 10 to 12 per cent and that they deserve a bailout as much as carmakers, banks or Alitalia, the ailing national airline.

However, the move sparked controversy in the South, with the Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno newspaper moved to comment: “It is laudable for the Government to intervene to help a sector of the economy which is going through a period of crisis. It is a pity, however, that the aid is going only to parmesan makers in the North”. The paper suggested it was no coincidence that Luca Zaia, the Agriculture Minister, was from the Northern League, which campaigns for autonomy for the North from the “backward and corrupt” South.

The aid to parmesan producers prompted a furious response from makers of mozzarella in the South. This year's rubbish crisis in Naples and Campania, which resulted in piles of uncollected refuse piling up in the streets, aroused fears of dioxin poisoning in irrigation water. Sales of mozzarella, which is most commonly used in pizza-making or eaten on its own with tomatoes as a caprese salad, fell nearly 20 per cent but without any government aid.

However, while northerners agree that they have been spared mountains of rubbish, they believe that they have fallen victim not only to the credit crunch but have been hit by consumer belt tightening - 80per cent of Parmesan sales are in Italy - and by changes to EU milk quotas.

Mr Zaia recently secured an EU concession of an extra 600,000 tonnes for Italy, or 6 per cent of the total quota, starting in April next year. He said that parmigiano reggiano and grana padano producers accounted for 50percent of Italian milk production, with a turnover of more than €6billion, “a production level which we cannot allow to be lost or reduced”.

However, Giuseppe Alai, head of the consortium of parmesan producers, said that this was not necessarily good news, as much of the extra milk would be used to make cheaper cheeses that would compete with high-quality brands. Also many parmesan makers have placed their milk orders, and will not benefit as prices fall.

Igino Morini, head of quality control for the parmesan consortium, also believes that although Italy has fought a series of legal battles at European level to protect its brand name, its foreign sales are vulnerable to competition from unauthorised imitations. In addition to central government help, the Emilia Romagna region has set aside €36 million over five years from its rural development plan to help local cheese and dairy producers.

Fausto Salvini, who with his son, Francesco, runs the San Salvatore parmesan dairy at Colorno, Parma, said: “We are facing a real long-term crisis, which will not be resolved by measures such as the 100,000 cheese wheels for charity. As for the South, they get plenty of aid already, not least from the EU.” The San Salvatore factory has begun selling parmesan direct to consumers from a shop at the dairy - and on the internet.

Tinerio Rabboni, head of agricultural policy for the Emilia-Romagna regional council, said: “Parmesan makers are facing grave difficulties, the wholesale price of parmesan has in fact fallen this year by €2 a kilo, but many consumers are unaware of this because the reduction has not been passed on by shopkeepers and supermarkets.”

Mr Morini added: “This is not so much a problem of production as of the economic system in general. I agree that giving cheese to charity is not the long-term solution. The real problem is the economic crisis and the fact that in Italy distribution is concentrated in the hands of five or six powerful distributors.”

There are 430 officially recognised parmesan producers, many small, family-run businesses. The production rules are strict, with cheese wheels left in temperature-controlled sheds to ripen for up to three years before being sold with a certificate of authenticity.

Mr Zaia, defending his “market intervention” for parmesan, said that although the obvious answer is for parmesan producers to sell more overseas, in reality the options are limited because many of the firms operate on too small a scale.

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive