Almost 50 hectares of Eden pear trees have been planted in Italy over the last three years in Emilia Romagna, Apulia and Calabria, of which 15 hectares are already in production. A further 60 hectares will be planted in the coming months, bringing the total investment to over 110 hectares.
Uzi Cairo of the Cairo & Doutcher nursery, the exclusive distributor of Eden pears in Italy, confirmed the positive outlook for the areas involved and for the 2024 harvest, following the recent field days held on 22 and 23 August.
Uzi Cairo with some of the harvesters
"The 170,000 plants are all spoken for, both from companies that have decided to expand their areas and from new customers. As a result, the plant material for the next round of transplants is sold out. Due to the surprising demand, we have instead allocated almost 500,000 plants for 2026. The next transplantation will start again in December and finish in March/April 2025. In Emilia Romagna we now have 15 hectares (in the provinces of Ferrara and Bologna), while in Puglia we have about 28 hectares, mainly in the provinces of Bari, Foggia, Taranto and Lecce, plus 6 hectares in Calabria, between Reggio Calabria and Cosenza."
The event was held at the end of August. According to the manager, there were around 250 visits from well-known companies in the fruit and vegetable sector. "We shared with the operators, technicians and farmers the results of the third harvest, which was 24 kg per tree, for a total of 55 tons per hectare. On the other hand, after one and a half years in the Eden plantations (with a 1x5 m planting layout - smooth plants in pots), we harvested 10 t/ha, for a total of 1,600 plants. Given the potential of the plant, we have always emphasised that our mission is to guarantee the grower a good profit and lower costs. With Eden we have achieved this with a juicy, crunchy, colourful, early and productive pear with a shelf-life of up to more than 8 months in cold storage, paid to the grower at an average price of 1.50 €/kg and then marketed by Greenyard Fresh Italy."
The company Cairo & Doutcher is planning new events in some Italian areas that are highly specialised in periculture, as it has already done in the winter and spring months. "The cultivation costs are lower, close to €10,000/12,000/hectare, compared to other well-known varieties, which cost around €20,000/hectare for 10 tons of product," concludes Uzi Cairo.
For more information:
Uzi Cairo
Cairo&Doutcher nurseries of Uzi Cairo and sons
Contrada Vigna Grande - locality Seminaristi
73043 Copertino (LE)
Tel.: +39 328 9863911
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
www.cairodoutcher.com