"Citrus fruit cultivation has been going through a crisis for the past few years. Just think that, during the past campaign, many producers from Taranto decided to cut down their groves when they saw their fruits being sold off. We started working on new cultivars to find an alternative," explains Domenico Maraglino, owner of Maraglino Agrumi, a business located in Massafra (Taranto).
"We used a series of old greenhouse structures where we used to grow tomatoes, performed analyses on the area soil and weather conditions and planted 80 plants of lime (Persian Lime)".
"Structures are covered by thick anti-hail nets, so we can control temperatures both in winter and summer. This also meant we managed to create climate conditions similar to those existing in Brazil or Mexico, which are among the leading lime producers worldwide."
"We planted the first groves around 6 years ago and have already carried out the first two harvests. After verifying the excellent adaptability and good fructification of the cultivar we decided, three years ago, to plant another 150 trees. Despite the considerable investment, we are looking to plant a grove of at least 2 hectares."
"Fruits have excellent grades with a bright green color, an extremely aromatic flavor and they are very juicy. The production calendar lasts over 2 months (June/August) and we supply the H&R and wholesale channels. Our fruits are commercialized under the Good Lime Maraglino Agrumi brand."
"It is not easy to penetrate markets that only know the foreign products. We must prove clients that, in addition to being fresh, the fruit is extremely valid. The peculiarity of our groves is that we obtain zero-residue produce and we are expecting that, by the end of 2019, all of the citrus fruits we will produce will hold the organic certification."
"Limes could represent a valid alternative for different businesses in the Metaponto area. We will continue to study and assess this cultivar also in open fields and have the objective of supplying the national markets and retail chains as well, thus contributing to limiting quantities imported."
Contacts:
Maraglino Agrumi
Via San Leonardo, 34
74016 Massafra (Taranto)
Tel.: (+39) 3456052313
Website: maraglinoagrumi.com
Facebook: facebook.com/Maraglino-Agrumi