Climate crazy, in Italy the cultivation of exotic fruit has doubled in 3 years

The phenomenon explained by Coldiretti. Thanks to the ever higher temperatures, in Puglia, Sicily and Calabria we experiment and then start the production of bananas, mangoes, limes but also passion fruit, anona, feijoa, casimiroa, black zapote and litchi From mango to bananas, to face the hot temperatures caused by climate change tropical fruit crops in Italy have doubled in less than three years with a boom of over a thousand hectares in Puglia, Sicily and Calabria. This is what emerges from Coldiretti’s analysis on the occasion of the General States of Italian horticulturalists on the green future of the cities in Giarre (Catania), with the presentation of Italian tropical productions and the live preparation of the first fruit salad of exotic fruits Made in Italy with reference to the COP 26 climate commitments in Glasgow, in the presence of the president of Coldiretti Ettore Prandini and the Minister of Agricultural Policies Stefano Patuanelli. The initiative was organized in Sicily, recalls the association, “where the effects of the tropicalization of the climate that is revolutionizing agriculture with the multiplication of extreme events and damage but also with the arrival of new crops are more evident, never seen in the past in Italy. More and more often in the Southern regions – underlines Coldiretti – first real fruit plantations originating from Asia and Latin America are tested and then started up, from bananas to mangoes, from avocado to lime, from passion fruit to anona, from feijoa to casimiroa, from black zapote to lychee, for a total consumption estimated at over 900 thousand tons nationwide “.” All thanks to the commitment of young farmers who – also reminds Coldiretti – they have chosen this type of cultivation, often recovering and revitalizing abandoned land precisely because of climate changes and previously used for the production of oranges and lemons. a to meet the need of over six out of 10 Italians (61%) who would buy Italian tropical plants if they had them available instead of foreign ones, according to a Coldiretti-Ixè survey. 71% of citizens would also be willing to pay more to have the security of the national origin of the tropics. A trend motivated by the greater degree of freshness but also by concerns about the safety guarantees of the imported product. “That of tropical plants Made in Italy – underlines Coldiretti – is a phenomenon destined to profoundly change consumer behavior in the coming years, but also the production choices of the farms themselves due to the effects of overheating caused by climate changes. 2021 in Italy – explains Coldiretti – has so far been the twelfth hottest year in history since surveys began in 1800 with a higher temperature of 0.69 degrees compared to the historical average in the first 10 months according to Coldiretti elaborations on Isac Cnr data. And it is not an isolated but structural fact in Italy where the ranking of the hottest years in the last two centuries is concentrated in the last period and includes in order also 2018, 2015, 2014, 2019 and 2003 “.” The phenomenon of exotic trees Made in It aly, driven by the commitment of many young farmers, is an example of the innovation capacity of Italian agricultural companies in constructively tackling climate change despite the difficulties and damage caused by increasingly extreme weather events that have caused in the last ten years over 14 billion euros in damage to our agri-food system “, comments the president of Coldiretti Ettore Prandini.