Lemon Groves on the Edge: Preserving Tradition by Changing Techniques

The terraced lemon cultivation of the Amalfi Coast and the Sorrento Peninsula represents a unique agricultural and landscape heritage. Today, however, this production model is under pressure: high costs, scarce labor, fragmented plots, emerging plant diseases and increasingly unstable climate conditions are putting the economic sustainability of farms at risk.

In this context, the experience of Luigi and Danilo Vinaccia, young producers from Piano di Sorrento, stands out. With the guidance of Agronomist Vito Vitelli, they have undertaken a major technical conversion of their three hectares of lemon groves.

Reform pruning

The starting point was a simple and stark observation: the traditional pergola system with trees 5–6 meters high can no longer be sustained. Every operation requires specialized personnel, safety equipment, long working times and high costs all on small, hard to reach plots located in areas of high tourist density.

Recovery after reform pruning

In addition to this is increasing phytosanitary pressure: increasingly resistant insects, fungi and mites require frequent treatments, often manual with sprayers tasks that are increasingly avoided by workers for health and safety reasons.

The solution was a decisive technical choice: gradually move away from the pergola system and adopt a compact modern training form.

After a drastic reform pruning, more than 2,000 m² have been converted to a low “Bush tree” system, with a maximum height of about 2.5 meters. This is not just about “Lowering” the trees, but about changing the approach; more rational canopies, simplified structure, preventive management from planting, safer treatments, faster harvesting and a strong reduction in operational costs.

Technical assessments indicate that the trees will return to full production within about two years, with a more stable vegetative and productive balance. In the new “Gardens,” a single worker can now manage the grove without extreme ladders or risky operations.

This conversion is not a trend but a necessity: scarce labor, rising costs, increasingly warm winters that anticipate flowering, new plant diseases and ever stricter safety regulations.

Tradition remains in the landscape and in the value of the product. Innovation enters the technique.

This is the real challenge of contemporary heroic lemon cultivation: remaining true to identity without becoming economically unsustainable.

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Keywords:
#lemongroves #AmalfiCoast #SorrentoPeninsula #lemonorchards #heroicagriculture #terracing #citrusfarming #sustainableagriculture #agriculturalinnovation #trainingform #reformpruning #canopymanagement #AgronomistVitoVitelli

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Editorial Note:
Original content by Agronomist Vito Vitelli, elaborated and optimized with the support of artificial intelligence tools for dissemination, informational, and technical enhancement purposes.

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