Spring rain affected the productivity of organic apricot orchards - at least this is what happened at Terre Giunchi, which cultivates 110 hectares in total, 38 of which dedicated to apricots.
Enrico Giunchi
"For some varieties, the drop reached 80-90%. The problem is that it rained a lot during setting and temperatures were low. In case of organic orchards, the only thing we can do is intervene with sulphur but sometimes we could not even enter the orchards," explains owner Enrico Giunchi.
Things are a little better for the late varieties. Faralia has been harvested in the past few days, then it will be the turn of Farbaly. "The only consolation is that the little produce we have is of good quality."
Apricots in a supermarket
Fabrizio Casadio grows 14 hectares of apricots using the integrated control technique. "I am quite satisfied with the production of Lady Cot, while we have registered a 40% drop of Faralia. Quality is average and depends a lot on the variety and location. Rain in June ruined a lot of fruit and the percentage of waste is considerable."
"There are too many varieties from California, Spain and France, i.e. selected in areas that are too different from ours. Some do not adapt well to our humid climate. Is it possible that Italian research cannot do better than that? I believe we should select varieties that are more suitable for our area."
Apricots in a supermarket
Fabrizio Casadio grows 14 hectares of apricots using the integrated control technique. "I am quite satisfied with the production of Lady Cot, while we have registered a 40% drop of Faralia. Quality is average and depends a lot on the variety and location. Rain in June ruined a lot of fruit and the percentage of waste is considerable."
"There are too many varieties from California, Spain and France, i.e. selected in areas that are too different from ours. Some do not adapt well to our humid climate. Is it possible that Italian research cannot do better than that? I believe we should select varieties that are more suitable for our area."