When your production areas span from Puglia to Veneto, of course you need to deal with adverse weather events. At the moment, drought is affecting various areas and we asked Orogel procurement manager Massimo Siboni for an update.
Canale emiliano romagnolo in southern Romagna
"If we start from Romagna, we can say some areas are not affected by drought, especially those served by the Canale emiliano romagnolo. Vegetables from here are usually frozen and they are surviving the lack of rain thanks to the water from river Po."
"Producers using water from rivers and basins aren't doing so good. A recent order prohibited using this water so not only will they find it difficult to complete ripening, but they also won't be able to sow for a second harvest."
Irrigation of green beans
Siboni is talking mainly about leaf vegetables and green beans. "It's still not possible to quantify the drop in production. The lack of rain leads to lower yields, but I wouldn't say it affects quality."
"Luckily, water is still enough in Puglia and Metaponto, especially since aubergines and peppers must be irrigated constantly. Some companies are running out of reserves in Taranto and Bari, but the tomato crop was completed nonetheless. There are now two months to go before the next sowing operations, so we hope it will rain in the meantime."
In Veneto too there are no serious problems at the moment. Orogel has a facility there as well as many producers.
Construction work for the new Orogel facility in Cesena
Siboni is currently collecting green beans, which are in full production even though yields are decreasing. Yields of early potatoes are instead very high. The harvesting of onions will start in 10 days' time.
In the meantime, the construction work to build the new Orogel facility is continuing. The self-supporting steel structures are already covering a wide area and are located almost opposite the existing facility.
Contacts:
Gruppo Fruttadoro Orogel
via Dismano 2600
47522 Cesena (FC)
Tel.: 0547/3771
E-mail: info@orogel.it
Sito: www.orogel.it