"Talking about nectarines, a 30-35% drop of sub-acid varieties (Big Bang and Big Top included) has been recorded and the same goes for peaches (-20-25%). In addition, they were also affected by hailstorms."
Partners are already harvesting produce from the covered orchards, whereas they should be starting harvesting non-covered orchards in 15-20 days, so full production will be in a month's time."
In Southern Italy, the stonefruit campaign goes from May to September, but Assofruit finishes in August. The group sells its produce domestically and in the EU (Germany in particular), Russia and Saudi Arabia. "Our main competitor is of course Spain, as its produce is ready 15 days earlier than ours."
According to the agronomist, cultivating stonefruit can still be profitable, but there is the need to standardise production and increase quality levels. "If you are only concerned about volumes you cannot talk about profitability, as clients are getting increasingly demanding. High-quality is necessary to be competitive. Our partners follow both our production specifications and techniques, as we are trying to standardise our production."
Critical points
The Sharka infection represents the main problem. In addition, there seems to be a sudden change in temperatures which is followed by hailstorms every year, so produce is often damaged. That's why our objective is to grow peaches and apricots in a protected environment.
Contacts:
Salvatore Pecchia - Agronomist
Assofruit Italia
Ufficio tecnico
Tel.: +39 (0)835 953951 / +39 (0)835 954281
Fax: +39 (0)835 953125
Email: [email protected]
