20,000 tons of clementines will be harvested again this year, destined, for the most part,for export all over the continent. Whilst the sector is proud of their new label, the sustainability of the orchards is not guaranteed.
Despite the success of the clementine sector, it has the same difficulties as other fruit when the orchards need to be handed on, in most cases it remains within the family.
Concentrated on the Eastern plain, the sector is characterised by it's structure and profitability. Achieving a PGI in 2007 allowed the sector to gain market share. The Label Rouge should increase the success of Corsican clementines this year, a guarantee of quality that concerns 15-20% of production and will increase the prices.
“The Label Rouge will demand a lot more sorting, a lot more effort, notably in packaging, therefore a product that will be a bit more expensive” justifies Jean-Paul Mancel, citrus producer and President of the Association Promoting and Defending Corsican Clementines.
Today, one in two people in charge of the clementine farms are over 50 years old. “I have just turned 65 and I don’t know what I will do with my farm because my children do not want to go into agriculture” says Jean-Paul Mancel.
To find someone to take over a farm from outside of the family, the farmers can to the PAT in the Chamber of Agriculture; the PAT receives 100 or so farmers each year.
Marie Dominique Linale, from the Chamber of Agriculture in the Haute-Corse explains that “the person that will take over the farm is really taking on an important amount of land and expensive machines, so for a young person who has nothing, they must have a big enough financial budget to buy all of the tools”. A hector of clementines in full production is negotiated between €20-30,000. It is the equivalent of one hector of vines in AOC Patrimonio.