Basilicata Strawberry becomes PGI

Brilliant red, firm to the touch, crunchy, that right balance between sugars and acidity that makes it particularly pleasant and persistent on the palate: few 'false fruits' (this is how strawberries are defined) can boast the same recognisability as the Basilicata IGP strawberry.

Peculiarities that earned it the recognition of Protected Geographical Indication, thanks to the work of the promoting committee made up of Lucanian producer organisations, including Aop Arcadia, Op Terre della Luce, Op Agorà, Op Athena, Op Primosole, Op Ancona and Apofruit.

A necessary step for the red gold of the Ionian coast, preparatory to the consolidation of competitiveness on the national and international markets, as well as the strengthening of so-called experiential tourism linked to agriculture.

The 'queen of first fruits' - worth 22% of the region's agricultural GDP and boasting a commercial value of around 100 million euro, employing around 12 thousand people, on more than a thousand hectares of land - is a vivid example of what research applied to fruit and vegetables can do.

As early as the 1950s, it was discovered that the sandy, well-drained soils of Metaponto (between the municipalities of Policoro, Scanzano Jonico, Bernalda and Nova Siri) were an ideal area for strawberry cultivation, so much so that in the 1970s the area was nicknamed the California of the South, but the invasion of Spanish competitors in the 1980s threw the sector into crisis.