The first chestnuts, return to the top after the risk of disappearance

(by Alessandra Moneti) (ANSA) - ROME, OCTOBER 19 - The rite of harvesting Italian chestnuts in the woods is back which, after risking their disappearance due to a phytopathology caused by the wasp, arrive this year in advance thanks to a particularly hot month of September favored maturation. Coldiretti estimates a growing national production of quality, over 35 million kilograms. An expected return for this fruit that has a thousand uses in the kitchen both in sweet and savory preparation. "However, we still remain far away - underlines Coldiretti - from the productive glories of the past for what Giovanni Pascoli called" the Italian bread tree ": in 1911 the production of chestnuts amounted to 829 million kilos, but still ten years ago it was 55 million pounds ". The gall wasp is not eradicated. Indeed, the renowned Marro del Mugello IGP (protected geographical indication), according to an estimate by the Cia Toscana, is at its lowest, with many chestnut farmers who give up harvesting also because they do not have access to direct sales markets due to the Covid emergency. According to the agricultural confederation "in a chestnut grove where they usually collect 10 quintals per hectare, this year it drops to 1.5 quintals, with a drop of 85%". The situation, according to a monitoring by Coldiretti, is differentiated along the Peninsula, with a good recovery in many Italian production areas such as Campania, Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and major problems in Calabria, Lazio and Piedmont. "The first chestnuts - underlines Coldiretti - are of a good and sweet quality and do not present particular anomalies". Furthermore, the lowering of temperatures is favoring an increase in consumption even though the limitations placed on the many festivals are imposed. In the wholesale markets, Coldiretti specifies, there are average prices for the period, ranging from 2.50 to 4.50 euros / kilo depending on the size with the prices tend to double in consumption, but the risk is that of being in the chestnut dish. foreigners coming mainly from Portugal, Turkey, Spain and Greece, considering that imports in 2019 amounted to 32.8 million kilos of chestnuts, often passed off as Italians, with strong repercussions on the prices paid to our producers. Hence the request of Coldiretti to ensure more controls on the origin of the chestnuts put up for sale in Italy. It is also a way to protect the high quality of the made in Italy production which has fifteen denomination products. Among those who have obtained the European recognition, five are found in Tuscany and are the Marrone del Mugello Igp, the Marrone di Caprese Michelangelo Dop, the Chestnut del Monte Amiata Igp, the Neccio Flour of the Garfagnana Dop and the Chestnut Flour of the Lunigiana Dop while in Campania the Chestnut of Montella IGP, the Marrone di Roccadaspide IGP and the Marrone di Serino / Castagna di Serino IGP are recognized, in Emilia Romagna the Marrone di Castel del Rio IGP, in Veneto the Marroni di San Zeno Dop and the Marroni del Monfenera IGP , and the Browns of Combai IGP, in Piedmont the Chestnut Cuneo IGP and the Brown of the Valle di Susa IGP, and in Lazio the Chestnut of Vallerano Dop. To these are added two chestnut honeys: the Honey of the Lunigiana Dop of Tuscany and the Honey of the Dolomites Bellunesi Dop of the Veneto. (HANDLE).