The old low-rise wooden sheds that started the history of intensive horticultural greenhouse cultivation in the southern coastal area of Sicily, the so-called fascia trasformata (transformed landscape), are now only a distant memory. Today, the Simonelli company, founded nearly 50 years ago, consists of technological greenhouses with steel structures.
Pietro Simonelli inside a solarized greenhouse
"After experimenting with growing almost all the main greenhouse horticultural references for a long time, we focused on the production of tomatoes for consumption about 20 years ago," says Pietro Simonellli, who, together with his brother Pippo, runs the family business. "'We have been able to grow the most diverse varieties until we settled on small berry tomatoes.
In fact, for many years now, we have been growing only cherry tomatoes, with a yield of about 400 tons per year coming from a 5-hectare planting. In the chaos of the many varieties available, we attempt not to miss out on innovations, but we focus on those that are able to assure us good results in terms of profitability at the Vittoria fruit and vegetable market (box no. 29 "Il Quadrifoglio" by Giorgio Puccia)."
"This agricultural year has been a bit of a mixed bag from both a production and commercial standpoint because we had to experience high temperatures until the end of December 2022," says the producer. "This resulted in the sudden arrival of quite a lot of produce all at once, with an inevitable reduction in prices. However, those who were lucky enough to harvest from February 2023 onward got very high prices until the end of July, especially for small-berry tomatoes. We are currently in the process of solarizing our greenhouse plots and will start transplanting from September onwards."
Lemon orchard
"With a view to expanding the company and diversifying the assortment, we planted 2.5 hectares of lemons a few years ago," adds Simonelli, "but we will only know whether that choice was right or not, when the planting, now in its third year, enters full production. So far, with all the products being imported from overseas, we continue to think we made the right choice. The lemon orchard, like our greenhouses, is located a few kilometers from the sea, in such an ideal area for Mediterranean agriculture, and we believe that the product will be of the highest quality and will not struggle to be commercialized."
For more information:
Società Semplice Agricola
di Simonelli P. & Co.
Via M. Mancuso 34
97019 Scoglitti(RG)
Tel.: +39 3356586938
pietro806@hotmail.it