"I notice something different every time I check on my groves. Almonds are growing rapidly, a look at the branches is enough to understand the volumes to be expected this year. The frost of late March has not affected me much, unlike other colleagues just a few hundred meters away. I was very lucky," commented Antonio Laghezza, a lawyer from Castellaneta (Taranto) passionate about agriculture.
Antonio Laghezza's almond grove- Zaragoza system.
"The damage is of around 15% and concerns mainly the older groves. I did not use hay bales or solutions to warm the area or maintain temperatures close to 0°C, but I helped plants with specific interventions."
"My experience with almond cultivation is positive, so much so that I decided to add another 4 hectares reaching 10 hectares in total. Of course the weather could damage everything, but this is true for all crops."
FreshPlaza talked about it with Vito Vitelli, the agronomist who monitors Laghezza's groves. "Antonio is one of the few producers who can still count on having produce, as the situation is not as bad as that in other areas. This enabled us to plan specific fertilization interventions that stimulated plants to recover after the shock. We used algae extracts, anti-stress energy-boosting products and fertilizers complete with macro and micro-elements."