The long-standing capacity for collaboration between Sicilian farms and this Emilian company is essential for producing high-quality products
The favourable climate in autumn around Syracuse encouraged optimum steady development of Sicilian new potato crops, a one-of-a-kind product, very popular among Italian consumers for its highly prized organoleptic qualities and its delicate flavour. This production area enjoys the effect of the cooler temperatures due to the sea and boasts fertile soil that is traditionally suitable for growing new potatoes.
Romagnoli F.lli has developed a real production chain there over the years, which is now considered a benchmark and an example for the Italian potato sector and, in particular, for the production of Sicilian new potatoes. Despite a long dry period, the company is able to offer high-quality production thanks to the combination of professionalism and authentic values of the Sicilian farmers, as well as the constant collaboration and support of the Romagnoli F.lli technical agronomic service, which has a permanent presence in the area with an operational unit.
Having started in mid-March, the harvest is progressing nicely including in terms of quantity: forecasts for gross production, after the critical all-time low of 2023 (25 gross tonnes/hectare), could stretch to 30 tonnes/hectare this year, a quantity still below the production averages for the area.
“Thanks to our well-established production chain, which we support in every growing phase, from planning the best varieties and surfaces right up to harvest, we can offer the market an excellent product that is very popular and in-demand. This is why we focus our research into varieties for Sicily on ones with excellent organoleptic qualities which consumers enjoy and which guarantee the highest return for farms from an agronomic point of view. The Arizona varieties are proof of this, having now established themselves as the outstanding new potato thanks to their flavour, early harvesting and exceptional production yields, along with Elodie, Generosa, Vogue and the new addition, Paradiso, with its bright straw yellow skin and excellent production yield, as well as Next Generation Levante, a variety that is naturally tolerant to the main plant diseases that affect the crop and is grown for Residue-Free production”, explained Roberto Chiesa, the Romagnoli F.lli Spa sales manager.
Image: Romagnoli F.lli