"One thing is for sure, we have nothing to complain about on the commercial and quality front. Demand was high right from the start. The high price for the grapes still on the vine confirms this, but I do not feel that I can describe this season as completely uneventful. It has been a difficult month in terms of production, with yields down by up to 50 percent," says Benny Porcelli, a young farmer from Rutigliano in Apulia who is struggling to market the last of the Italian grapes.
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In Apulia, the table grape harvest is in its final stages. Many producers are cutting and storing the grapes in order to prolong sales until the Christmas holidays. The weather is favourable, but they prefer to protect the product for fear of a possible sudden deterioration in the weather, with the arrival of autumn rains and humidity levels that could affect the fruit.
Benny Porcelli
"We have faced, but not completely overcome, a severe drought," he continues, "a situation exacerbated by the hot weather, which has forced us to irrigate frequently and at great expense. Although our prices are higher than usual, we are not always able to compensate for the drop in yields, which is made worse by the increased costs of water, pesticides, labour and the electricity needed to run the propellers. Then there are the quantities lost at night to theft in the countryside. It is always the first and last in the supply chain who suffer. On the one hand, those who produce at high cost and see their income sacrificed, and on the other, the consumer who buys grapes for almost the price of two slices of meat."
For more information:
Az agricola Porcelli Leonardo
Tel.: +39 327 879 1848
[email protected]