As per established tradition, March 19 (Feast of St. Joseph) opens the season of white asparagus Bassano Pdo.
This year, the first bunches of asparagus were branded on March 13 and delivered to the restaurateur Sergio Dussin, as President of Confcommercio Restaurateurs.
Due to weather conditions, the season will take longer to enter into full swing with significant volumes. Moreover, the long-awaited rain has not given the desired result. However, it is still too early to comment on the trend of the season.
Bassano asparagus is grown on about 20 hectares in the 10 municipalities of the area. Last year, 70 tons of product were harvested; the Consortium expects the total volumes for 2019 to remain in line with this volume.
Most of the production is sold on the local market, while 30% is exported, with destinations mainly in East Asia and with growing interest from Japan. This is also due to the broadcast of a documentary on asparagus (made with the participation of the Consortium) by the main Japanese network NHK.
For the next few months, the Bassano asparagus is expected to participate in an Exhibition Competition that will take place on April 22nd in the PDO Festival organized by the Veneto Region that will take place in May in Lazise, where all the regional excellence will be present.