- quantity: yield per hectare was excellent;
- quality: different sized bulbs (due to bad weather conditions);
- phytopathology: very good, fair weather conditions did not allow the expansion of Puccinia Allii.
“The most expensive variety is the local one, (0.05- 0.10 Euro/kg more than French White), which is not suitable for the mechanised harvest. Local producers prefer cultivating the above early variety. For this reason, at the beginning of the campaign prices were quite low because there was too much competition.”
“Local producers finish the harvest about mid May, while in my firm we start the mechanised harvest of the 'French White' and this leads to a drop in competition and a rise in prices. A 10% rise in prices was recorded and it was constant until the end of the campaign despite the competition of the Spanish garlic”, says Di Stefano.
“The average selling price of local garlic was 0.80 Euro/kg while the 'French White' garlic’s average price was 0.75 Euro/Kg”, the producer says. Finally, the 2012 campaign was profitable with a loss of 1% in respect to last year due to the product’s quality, though.
Future expectations
All future expectations aim to renew the cultivation of garlic. “At the moment we are selecting phenotypes of some garlic varieties which are suitable both for the physic-chemical features of our fields and our weather conditions and plus they are suitable for the mechanised harvest”, Di Stefano says. “After years testing varieties I have discovered two new varieties I will sell in the 2013 campaign.” These new varieties have been selected to produce quantity in quality.
Contact:
Carmelo Di Stefano
SICIL GARLIC di Carmelo Di Stefano
Via Cinquegrana, 64
95040 Castel di Iudica (CT) - Italy
Mobile: +39 335 72 23 289
Email: [email protected]