(Agen Food) – Cesena, 20 June. – Of Claudia Pollara – L’Rossi Company is made up of brothers Maurizio, Monia and Lucia. We are in Emilia Romagna precisely in Cesena where the stone fruit campaign is 7-10 days early. In fact, Lucia Rossi, co-owner of the company, confirms that the ready-made Big Top fruits have begun to be harvested from the upper part of the plants when they generally started harvesting at the end of June. Royal Glory is also well ahead. For the Bella di Cesena variety, with the high temperatures expected in the next few days, it will ripen more quickly. Normally, Bella di Cesena is harvested in mid-July, but this year it is likely to be significantly earlier. Thanks to funds from the PSR-Rural Development Plan of the Emilia Romagna region, Rossi was able to protect the orchards with anti-insect nets, saving the harvest from bugs and hail. This also involves the reduction of treatments to be carried out, to the benefit of healthiness and with lower costs to be incurred.
In the 1950s, Bella di Cesena was one of the most popular peaches; then it totally disappeared due to poor post-harvest resistance. It is a variety now considered ancient but which, in reality, is the mother (or grandmother) of many current cultivars. A CRPV (now Ri.Nova) project, started several years ago, led to ‘saving’ this and other types of peaches, and several farmers have created profitable systems with them. Among these there is also the Rossi company, which has a fair amount of surface area and uses it for sale in the markets or directly to consumers.
This year too the caliber is not very high for Bella di Cesena which in any case does not produce very large calibers. What characterizes it is the aroma, naturally if harvested at the right level of ripeness. This variety is good to eat but does not tolerate handling. It is sold at the local markets of the tourist towns of the Romagna Riviera, such as Bellaria in the province of Rimini. It wouldn’t even be collected from traditional fruit warehouses because it doesn’t conform to standards.
Prices for peaches, nectarines and apricots are currently satisfactory. For fruits with some signs of hail, or imperfect, or too ripe, a dedicated line has been created called ‘La sgonda’, i.e. the second choice.
