In early November I joined the British Herbs Association on their study tour to Italy. Having had nothing to do with herb production before it was a good opportunity for me to learn about something new (and escape the UK’s grey skyline for a week!).
The first day was spent visiting growers in the Sele plain, specialising in parsley, coriander production, as well as perennial herb growers too. Crop in the area is predominantly grown under plastic tunnels, and the whole area does look like a sea of plastic! The crops have very little herbicide applied – due to risk of build up and damage within the soil. Instead, hand weeding is used frequently to keep weeds out of the crop and finished product. Soil solarisation techniques are also used.
Growers use a mixture of machine harvest and hand harvest techniques. Labour availability is also a challenge in Italy but the cost is significantly less than the UK.
Our hosts in the evening at Azienda Agricola Quaranta were very hospitable, and I think we all enjoyed sampling the thyme and sage liqueur on offer!
The second day, we headed to Costeragumi – a lemon grower in Minori on the stunning Amalfi coast. The views from the coast road on the way there really were amazing. The business is in its 3rd generation, and is a leader in growing and packing of the famed Amalfi coast lemon PGI, selling products across the world.
Around 1000 tonnes of lemons are processed annually, packed within 48 hours of harvest. The business maintains the traditional practices of the steep lemon groves, protected under a UNESCO status. Harvest is carried out year round, and workers carry the heavy crates up and down the steep slopes. It was fascinating to climb our way down through the groves which are largely unchanged over the past 100+ years.
I think the whole group was grateful for the beach buggy ride back up to the top! As well as the limoncello spritz awaiting us on conclusion of the tour!
On day 3 we visited the Valsalus Project, and the CREA research centre for vegetable and horticultural crops.
The Valsalus project is a collaboration between 4 agricultural companies based in Salerno. The aim is to enhance the by-products of horticultural supply chains by using specialist extraction techniques to make nutraceutical products. The project focused on using extracts from waste rocket and purslane weeds, to go into food and health supplements. Rocket contains secondary metabolites that have nutritional and health benefits. It was interesting to see how collaboration between growers and research centres was working to deliver benefits.
After there we visited CREA (Council for Agricultural Research and Economics). CREA is an agricultural research organisation, with 12 research centres in Italy and over 300 ongoing research projects. We had a tour of the impressive lab and greenhouse facilities and presentations on the various research projects – from improvements in irrigation sensing and scheduling, to soilless production and bio stimulants.
On the final morning, we visited Fratelli Cafaro – aromatic herbs and baby leaf growers, growing on 80ha of open field and over 70ha of polytunnels. The business had recently invested in a new packhouse, and supply herbs across Europe. It really was an impressive operation to see.
Overall I found the trip really informative, it was good to learn about crops I had very little knowledge of before. It was also interesting to hear that the challenges of labour and climate change are also as present here as they are in the UK. It was also really good to learn from other members of the tour, who were a mix of growers, packers and agronomists. They were a very welcoming and friendly group and I really learnt a lot. I would also like to thank Phillip Dodd for organising the trip and driving, and also our wonderful host Lucia Currano.
Robert Watson, 2024 Fellow
LSA CT Fellowship Scheme 