PRODUCTIVE
AREAS
SICILY
Citrus-fruits
have always found favourable pedoclimatic conditions for their diffusion in
Sicily.
Altimetrically,
citrus-fruit cultivations can be practised to 600 metres sea level.
The
Sicilian citrus-fruit production is mainly concentrated on the seabord plains
where there are favourable enviromental conditions such as the pedoclimatic
aspects, the supply of irrigation water and the socio-economic conditions.Citrus
plantations are rarely in upland terraced areas near seabords.
The
Italian citrus-fruit cultivation is characterized by two large productive
basins: Calabria and Sicily.
The
latter is the most important basin as it produces
about 60 % of oranges and 90 % of lemons of the total quantity produced in
Italy. But the feature that makes the Sicilian production unique is surely the
pigmented-pulp oranges.
In
fact, some particular substances, called anthocyanins,pigment the pulp and the
juice of Sicilian oranges.In addition to give them more colour and make them
very sweet and tasty fruits, anthocyanins give oranges a lot of curative and
therapeutical properties.
Even
though orange cultivation is practised throughout Sicily, there is a major
concentration in the provinces of Catania (the plain and the inland of Catania),
Siracusa (the inner zone at the border with the provinceof Catania )and Enna
(the south-eastern part of the province). In these areas, the most practised
cultivars are the pigmented ones (Moro, Tarocco and Sanguinello ).
The
areas cultivated with the pigmented cultivars represent the 70 % of the total .
The cultivar "Tarocco" is the most
diffused , with an area of 44 thousand hectares. The yellow-pulp cultivars
(Biondo, W. Navel, Navelina, Valencia and Ovale ) are more uniformly
diffused on the Sicilian territory even though their exent is altogether
inferior (30% of the total cultivated area ).
The
major area cultivated with yellow-pulp oranges is the province of Agrigento
where the W. Navel cultivar finds its ideal climate and where its qualitative
features are best expressed.
Sicily
is also the first region for the mandarin cultivation with the 65 % of the
cultivated areas. Economically ,the Tardivo of Ciaculli and the Avana of Palermo
represent the most important cultivars and are diffused in the provinces of
Catania and Palermo.
Besides
Sicily has the 25 % of the national area cultivated with clementines, mainly
situated along the eastern (Catania ) and the southern (Ragusa and Siracusa )
coast.
Sicily
is the leader region in the lemon cultivation with an area of 34 hectares. The
most cultivated lemon cultivars are : the Monachello, the Femminello and the
Interdonato. They are mainly practised in Siracusa, Catania, Palermo and
Messina.
The
cultivar "Tarocco" is the most esteemed among the blood-pulp or
pigmented oranges. A recently known cultivar ( about at the beginning of this
century ), it has rapidly spread and
has become one of the most cultivated cultivar. Its original zone is Pedagaggi
of Carlentini (Siracusa)from where it has spread in other parts of the same zone
( Lentini and Francofonte )and in many other citrus-fruit cultivated areas of
Catania among which Scordia.
The oranges produced in Scordia are very famous for their sweetness, size , juiciness and aroma and are in great demand both in Italy and abroad.