Production Area
A generous land and a mild climate: these are the secrets of the Carota Novella di Ispica PGI
Welcome to Ispica
Places of great charm and strong appeal in which to range from monumental beauties, such as those in Modica, Ragusa, Scicli, Noto or Caltagirone, to those marked by cultivated fields, such as in Chiaramonte Gulfi, Pachino or Vittoria, to suggestive locations framed by the sea, such as Porto Palo di Capo Passero or Ispica.
They all share the same climate and soil characteristics, so much so that they have become a privileged place for the cultivation of various valuable products. Among these is the Carota Novella di Ispica Igp, whose history is inextricably linked to that of the agricultural and popular traditions of the places where it is grown.
The origins of carrot cultivation
Its origins date back to 1950, as documented in a 1955 article by agronomist Giuseppe Di Pietro, published in the Hispanic history and culture magazine “Hyspicae Fundus”.
Since those years, its cultivation has gradually expanded from the Ispica area to include all the current territories, whose strengths are undoubtedly the soil characteristics and climate.
Ispica, together with Pachino and Pozzallo is, in fact, among the sunniest towns in Italy and, not by chance, all three municipalities are among those in which the Carota Novella is grown. The intense orange colour, strong aroma and crunchiness are in fact all distinctive traits linked to the presence of the sun, as well as the characteristics of the soil.
Tasting the Carota Novella, therefore, becomes an opportunity to get to know an area that preserves some of the most important monuments of the Sicilian Baroque, which have become a Unesco heritage site, but also a moment to admire the Art Nouveau style of some palaces, the ancient atmospheres of archaeological sites of great value or rare natural contexts that are still uncontaminated.
Around the 1980s, a period of peak production of Carota Novella di Ispica, the areas of the district have reached 3500-4000 ha with productions of 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 quintals of carrots.
In recent years, the areas have been reduced, remaining around 1,300 to 1,500 hectares with production averaging 650,000 to 750,000 quintals in good years.
The ISTAT data are very variable, as far as production is concerned, in relation to climatic trends. The production of the delimited area represents about 90% of Sicily's production. The companies that have joined to protect and enhance the production of the Carota Novella di Ispica represent, in terms of area, production and marketing, 55 60% of the operators in the area, constituting the representative part of the producers of the New Carrot of Ispica of the delimited territory. Today, it is cultivated on around 1,500 hectares, with a total production exceeding 75,000 tonnes.
As far as carrot cultivation is concerned, the cultivated areas are 12,664 ha in Italy, of which 3,390 in Sicily, equal to 26.8% of the total, and harvested quantities are 587,319 tonnes in Italy, of which 128,585 in Sicily, equal to 21.9%, and an export figure of 1.2% of national production is recorded, while the share of imported product is growing: over 9,400 tonnes.
In this context the Carota Novella di Ispica, plays a potential key role as it is the first quality carrot to enter the market just at the peak of importation.
Its cultivation has gradually expanded, partly due to its great commercial success in domestic and foreign markets, mainly due to its unique characteristics, such as early ripening, crunchiness, aroma, colour and flavour, as well as its richness in carotene and glucose.
Italy's import-export trade shows an increase in carrot exports compared to imports, which remain substantially stable. In Sicily, the record for carrot production is held by the province of Ragusa, which alone accounts for 59% (80,000 tonnes - Istat data) of regional production, followed by the province of Siracusa with 32% (44,200 tonnes - Istat data).
This production, as already mentioned, is characterised by its production cycle and quality.