"The harvesting of the earliest varieties such as Early Lady had already started in Cesena. Quality was excellent, with good grades and prices up to €8/kg. Then heavy rains on Saturday 6th caused problems."
20-30% of the cherries developed cracking problems, so now fruits must be selected one by one to take away the damaged ones, leading to a significant rise in labour costs.
"We are talking about small cracks, but they are enough to downgrade the fruit. We hope that only the early varieties were affected."
Anti-rain nets, which also double as anti-hail and anti-insect nets, are making their appearance in many orchards, however not all orchards are suitable, as nets are difficult to install on hill orchards with 5-6 metre tall trees.
Anti-rain net installed by Consorzio Agrario Adriatico
Aproccc aims at promoting Corniola cherries in particular. The Consortium also has a type of packaging that enhances its content, although members can use their own.
Contacts:
Aproccc
Associazione produttori
ciliege colline cesenati
Loris Babbini
E mail: lorisbabbini@virgilio.it
Tel.: 345/1566340