In Rocca Imperiale (Cosenza), an area known for its PGI lemons, Pietro Buongiorno, a farmer with 25 hectares of citrus fruit, has decided to install the Iridium Fluo protection net over his lemon crops, with surprising results in terms of fruit diameter, weight and juice yield.
"The plant examined is in its fourth year. Since the beginning, it has been covered with the Iridium Fluo protection net. The latest analysis conducted by an Apulian institute shows extraordinary results: the diameter of the fruit is 7.2 cm, the weight is 270 grams and the juice yield is almost 36%", explains the farmer Buongiorno.
On the left, a lemon from a field not covered by the Iridium Fluo protection net. On the right, a lemon from a field covered by the Iridium Fluo protection net.
"In my other fields not covered with this net, for example, the juice yield is 26%, a figure that forced us to sell these lemons as a non-PGI product, because the law requires a juice yield equal or above 30%".
"I am very satisfied - continues the farmer - to have covered my lemon fields with Iridium Fluo protection nets. These have not only guaranteed a rapid growth of the plant and a faster production, but have also allowed me to have an excellent product quality, and thus to tick higher prices than my other fields".
2016 - Planting and installation of the Iridium Fluo protection net completed.
The Iridium Fluo photoselective nets, made and supplied by Agrintech, on the one hand manage to maximize the photosynthesis rate, and on the other hand are able to provide a greater degree of shading compared to the classic yellow net, thanks to a percentage of red pigment that favors temperature variation.
From left to right: Alessandro Gagliardo of Agrintech, the entrepreneur Pietro Buongiorno and the agronomist Vito Vitelli.
During the visit in the field the agronomist Vito Vitelli was there as well, who spoke to us: "We know very well that the lemons are affected by winds rich in salt if the crops are located near the sea, but at the same time they are also affected by low temperatures. The right compromise can be found precisely in Rocca Imperiale, where lemon production is located not far from the sea, but protected, at the same time, by the hills behind them".
"A good management of soil, foliage and water, along with the use of these special multifunctional covers, allow us to create and enhance those ideal characteristics for the cultivation of lemons, with the chance, even for those areas not totally suited to lemon production, to obtain at least a good production".
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