Historic Lemon Groves of the Coast: When Survival Depends on the Courage to Change
The terraced lemon growing system of the Amalfi Coast represents one of the most fascinating agricultural landscapes in the Mediterranean, but also one of the most complex and fragile from a productive and economic perspective. Extremely high operating costs, logistical constraints, increasingly evident climate change and growing plant health pressure are seriously calling into question the sustainability of this historic model. In recent years, a number of young agricultural entrepreneurs have begun to ask an uncomfortable but unavoidable question: is it possible to preserve lemon groves without remaining trapped in the past? Among them is Filippo Ferrara from Maiori in the province of Salerno, who has launched a radical trial involving around 400 trees spread across more than 100 small terraces. This agricultural mosaic, typical of the Coast, is made up of very small and difficult to manage plots, where the traditional pergola system had been used for decades. The turning point c...