The empire of the Giulianos is large and – delicious. On an area of more than 3,500 hectares, the family has been growing fruit for three generations. Almost 35 million kilos of grapes leave the fields in southern Italian Apulia every year. It has always been important to the family to cultivate sustainably. “We live from nature and together with nature – without it we are nothing,” says Vito Giuliano.
The fact that high-tech and sustainability are such a good match is clearly visible in their vast fields. This starts with the water. To ensure that every drop is used wisely, the Giulianos rely on water-saving drip irrigation. Each vine receives, drop by drop, the ideal amount of water.
And thanks to the many stones in the soil, the water seeps directly to the roots without evaporating and going to waste. The Giulianos have been working for years to completely do away with the use of insecticides.
To protect the fruits from insects, for example, they don’t spray insecticides, but use environmentally friendly high-tech ideas.
One of these ideas is based on the sexual confusion of insects. State-of-the-art spraying devices in the fields release female sexual attractants, so-called pheromones.
This smell confuses the male insects and prevents them from reproducing. In addition, damage caused by vine moths and honeydew is reduced in a natural way. Another advantage of this method is that the fields are not polluted because the spraying devices are removed after use. However, not only high-tech is used. To protect their grapes from pests, the family relies on natural enemies of the vermin, such as spiders, ichneumon wasps or predatory mites. This is important because it protects the bees and the fruit. Vito Giuliano: “We work in harmony with nature, because this is the only way we can guarantee the quality of our fruit.”
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