"Over the past few days, we uprooted over 90% (approximately 12 hectares) of our strawberry crops, only keeping one small plot of the Fortuna variety, with which we will still manage to supply a few regional supermarkets and part of our clientele for a few days. We could have continued for over 10 days, but it has not been possible due to the lack of labor," explains Salvatore Rosito, production manager at Rosito Frutta in Scanzano Jonico (Matera).
"Compared to the past campaign, in fact, the season is ending two weeks early. This is a real economic and occupational loss, as demand continues to be high despite everything. Unfortunately it has become extremely hard to source labor, so much so that we have had to wrap things up earlier than expected. According to some of our estimates, over 100 tons of Fortuna and Candonga strawberries were left to rot on the plants between mid-April and late May as there were not enough operators."
"We managed to harvest approximately 600 gram/plant for both cultivars, most of which obtained between January and April. We will harvest the last strawberries next weekend and then we will have to think about what to do for the next 2022 campaign."