There are those who use under-foliage irrigation to create a micro-climate and those who prefer over-foliage anti-frost systems, pellet or wood burners, or even burners towed by tractors. Producers try to find many ways to protect their crops, FreshPlaza has witnessed it in Emilis Romagna on April 6 2023 between 1 and 5 am.
All of northern Italy was swept by frost, from Trentino Alto Adige to the Veneto, and the damage is still being assessed.
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We first visited Davide Vernocchi, a producer well-known for being the president of Apoconerpo. At 1 am, he was feeding pellet and wood burners to protect his apricot and persimmon trees. The temperature dropped to -4°C in the Russi area (Ravenna).
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Davide Vernocchi
"It's tough, we spend all night running around but there is no other choice: we need to protect our productions," explains Vernocchi.
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Under-foliage irrigators
We then moved on to Ravenna, where Antonio Casadei uses under-foliage irrigation to create a micro-climate and protect the orchard. "I turned on the irrigation system at 2 pm as I had seen the weather forecast."
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Grass with frost in the foreground, and wet grass in the background thanks to the microclimate
All the water creates an effect that maintains the temperature in the peach orchard at +0.7°C. It's impressive to see how the water freezes just a few meters outside of the orchard while there isn't any frost inside.
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A lot of smoke in Bagnacavallo
In Bagnacavallo (still in the Ravenna province), a producer generated smoke and heat using a wood and hay burner towed by a tractor.
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Burners at work at Bosi
In the same area, Luigi Bosi turned on hundreds of pellet burners to protect his blossoming pear orchard.
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Hot air generator in Imola for a super-intensive almond grove
We then moved on 40 km to Imola (Bologna). The managers of Romagna Impianti and Fruit Net System protected their 3 hectares of almond groves using a hot air generator towed by a diesel-fuelled tractor. Operators drove all around the grove all night.
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Manuele Malavolti
At 5 am, we visited a hill in Modigliana (Forlì-Cesena), approximately 200 m above sea level, where Manuele Malavolti used above-foliage irrigation to defend his 6 hectares of kiwifruit.
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Ice protecting kiwifruit plants
Irrigation was turned on during the evening of April 5th and continued all night and throughout the morning of April 6th, as the ice must melt away slowly not to damage the buds. Here, the temperature reached at least -3°C.