In 2010, Compagnia delle Primizie, a company located in Policoro (Matera), started an initial experimental phase for the production of raspberries of the Adelita variety, a cultivar patented by Planasa SA and distributed by Planitalia Srl. Since then, its contribution to the development of soft fruit in Basilicata has grown.
"Our partners's crops currently cover 10 hectares. Crops are both traditional and soil-less with coir. They produce around 150 tons of fresh produce between November and June. Plants per hectare vary between 15,000 (in case of traditional crops) and 18,000 (soil-less)," explains Giuseppe Santarcangelo, agronomist at Compagnia delle Primizie.
"Adelita raspberries are currently commercialized in 125 gram punnets under the Happy Berry® brand. It is known for its good-quality fruits of a medium size (10-12 gr), uniform grades, bright red color and balanced sweet-acidic flavor. They withstand handling well, are easy to pick and do not fall apart. In addition, they are persistent with a high shelf-life and excellent yields."
"Blossoming started in October and is currently underway for late September transplants. Harvesting started in mid-November with around 2 tons a week, but operations will peak near Christmas with around 12 ton."
"Plants were planted between June and September in polytunnels. As Adelita is a vigorous cultivar, suitable fertilizers distributed via automated fertigation systems have been used from the start. They supply small doses of fertilizers at a constant frequency to favor fruit formation/ripening with a balanced plant development thus avoiding waste.
"The attention towards the environmental impact has always been one of our cornerstones. Our associates comply with the production specification of Regione Basilicata and hold the GolbalGAP certification."
"In addition, in 2019 we decided to exclusively adopt biological control techniques against the main pests with the help of predators or pathogens so as to limit or eliminate pesticide residues."
Contacts:
Compagnia delle Primizie
Viale Salerno, 13/15
75025 Policoro, MT - Italy
Tel.: (+39) 0835.902017
Email: info@compagniadelleprimizie.com
Web: compagniadelleprimizie.com