Tenute Pasquale Librandi ~ Terra, madre biologica

The revolution

In 1997 our father decided to convert the entire company surface of 200 hectares over to organic farming. A real revolution for the time, which required major changes to the company management: an end to synthetic fertilisers, an end to chemical insecticides which could end up inside the fruit, yes to organic fertilisers, yes to biological and natural control methods, allowed by the production policy of organic farming, a start to practices for the conservation and increase of biodiversity, a reduction in soil processing and in its depth, encouraging the spontaneous growth of herbaceous plants, such as clover and liquorice, whose growth is favoured by our region. After being certified by the Bioagricert control body, authorised by the Italian Agriculture Ministry, we began that adventure which continues today, and which has led us to produce and bottle only organic food and to avoid synthetic chemicals.

Philosophy

Carrying out organic farming is a challenging activity because the means to feed plants and to defend against pests are more expensive, and because it produces less in comparison with conventional farming. But at the same time it has allowed us to obtain products of the highest quality, respecting Nature. These are not simple cultivation techniques; those which we carry forward are gestures of love towards our family, because that is how we view the earth and the trees. We five siblings are their temporary custodians, waiting for our children and then our grandchildren to do the same.

cultivation methods

Organic farming means learning and interpreting the daily signals which plants send us. Observing, studying and above all foreseeing with the help of science and with respect for nature. The cultivation operations are how we care for our trees, and this is why they carry on throughout the year.

adaptation

Our cultivation techniques have adapted to our area and have led us to minimise the processing of our land, to encourage the growth of spontaneous herbaceous species, which are simply shredded on the spot to increase the organic matter content of the soil, obtaining that semi-permanent grassing which allows us to have greater water retention in winter and to protect our trees from the risk of fire in summer.

nutrition

We only use soil improvers and fertilisers of organic origin, which are allowed for use by the organic farming regulations in force. We try to maintain the fertility of the soils, also favouring the spontaneous growth and the sowing of some herbaceous nitrogen-fixing species like clover, fava or liquorice.

protection

For the defence of plants we perform continuous sampling for any interventions which are more rapid, precise and effective. We only use products of natural origin such as Bacillus Thuringensis to control Prays oleae and Palpita unionalis, extract of Saccharopolyspora spinosa (Spinosad) and stone powder (Kaolin) for controlling olive flies, large-scale traps for controlling fruit flies, etc. We respect bees and all other insects which naturally compete with harmful ones, with an increase in biodiversity on all terrains.

watering

In summer it becomes very important to provide our trees with irrigation water if they need it, to avoid stress which might have an effect on an alternating production, and cause it to be even lower than that which the biological management already involves.