Technical Field Day on the Late Seedless Mandarin Valley Gold®: Field Observations, Data, and Outlook
The day of 17 January was dedicated entirely to the late seedless hybrid mandarin Valley Gold®, with a technical field meeting that brought together growers and industry operators from several citrus producing regions, including Basilicata, Apulia, Campania, Lazio, and Calabria. This was not a conference room event with slides and easy promises, but a hands on visit to commercial orchards, aimed at observing the trees, evaluating the fruit, and openly discussing yields, costs, agronomic management, and real market potential. The initiative was coordinated by Agronomist Vito Vitelli, promoter of the meeting and technical reference for the dissemination of the variety in Italy, in collaboration with Citricom IP, the company holding the plant breeders’ rights. The itinerary included two farms, one in Apulia and one in Basilicata, with orchards of different ages. This allowed a direct comparison between similar but not identical production contexts, offering valuable insight into th...