18th May, 2012
"Italy: "The growing of quality kiwifruit in Calabria"
Kiwifruit plant in Calabria region.
Dr. Mario Colapietra observed that in some areas of this region, in particular in 'Piana di Gioia Tauro', there are the best pedoclimatic features for kiwifruit growing. There in fact 3,000 hectares are cultivated for 70,000 tons of kiwifruit. The cultivated area represents 10% of national one.
Kiwifruit plant in 'Piana di Gioia Tauro'.
During the meeting, Rosario De Leo of ARRSA spoke about "the importance of kiwifruit in Piana di Gioia Tauro". Charts on his presentation follow. In the first one we can see the cultivated area (ha) and yield (hundred kilos) of kiwifruit crops in Calabria in 2012; in the second one we can see the evolution of cultivated area in 'Piana di Gioia Tauro' over the years.
Professor Guglielmo Costa (Faculty of Agricultural Sciences - University of Bologna) spoke about "the plant growth regulators in quality kiwifruit crops" and explained the mechanisms of action of components of the growth regulators in the plant. In particular, he focused on the effects of cytokinins on the increase in size, quality and shelf life of kiwifruits after harvest.
Prof. Guglielmo Costa.
Further Prof. Costa focused on the features of new tools which allow the detection of the chemical composition and nutritional features of fruits, often available on the packages. They are non-invasive methods (that is respectful of the fruit integrity) and objective in assessing the degree of ripeness, the firmness, the acidity and the sugar content.
Excellent quality kiwifruits.
Giovanni Papa, AlzChem AG technical manager for South Italy, showed the last presentation on Sitofex, the new plant growth regulators for kiwifruit, authorized by Ministry of Health in 2006. Sitofex improves fruit size and quality and is suitable for diverse types of fruit. This product works similarly to cytokinins that occur naturally in plants but is substantially more effective. A few grams of the active substance per hectare are sufficient to achieve the desired results.
Kiwifruit obtained with Sitofex applications. It is a product of German AlzChem AG and commercialized by Italian Agricola Internazionale.
Contact:
Mario Colapietra
Mobile: +39 339 6383200
Email: [email protected]