New consumption trends and growing demand for exotic fruits are changing the face of world agriculture, which is increasingly committed to meeting the whims of a globalized market. Some areas of Sicily are well suited for the production of products that were previously grown far from Europe.
Mango, avocado, lime, palm lime, passion fruit - these are cultures that become part of the production offer of greenhouse gardening companies in Sicily. Among them is the cooperative "Agropolis", which is led by Carmelo Chrison.
On a total area of 3 hectares, Chrison, originally almost for fun, built a 2,000 m² greenhouse for growing papaya, gaining almost immediate commercial success. But Chrisione's agricultural enterprise is primarily a traditional horticultural company in which it mainly grows table tomatoes.
“60% of our surfaces are for the production of cherries and plums,” explains Chrisione, “and the rest is for tomatoes. Our reference markets are the large national distribution and the agri-food markets of Northern Italy.
Last year, we received an average price of 1.20 euro / kg for small tomatoes and a little less for plums, in general, the season would have gone well if it had not been for the damage caused to the structures by weather disasters.
“The climate change that we are so worried about right now is felt not so much because of rising global temperatures, but because of the constant repetition of sudden, extreme and harmful phenomena.”
