Stefano Lugli - SL Fruit Service
Cherry Times technical-scientific committee
The areas invested in cherry orchards in Italy continue to decrease and the national production of Italy's most beloved fruit fell dramatically in 2013. Will Romagna cherries save us or will we have to get used to eating Turkish and Uzbek cherries? Probably yes.
Thanks to the investments made by Apofruit in the Cesena and Forlì area and those of Agrintesa in the Faenza area, according to the latest CIA report, Romagna has almost doubled its cherry tree surfaces in just 10 years, in contrast to national trends and those of its rich and noble cousins from Vignola.
Unfortunately, cherry growing in Romagna, like so many others, has had to suffer the devastating effects of climate change this year: frost, rain and floods that have effectively wiped out local cherry production. Read the CIA report here.
And if the people of Romagna are crying today, while looking with some optimism at their future, the people of Emilia are certainly not laughing and see any prospect of growth in the cherry sector as smoke in their eyes.
There are few rays of sunshine and many clouds on the horizon: suffice it to say that Vignola's famous cherries hit an all-time low in 2023 after 150 years, with just 3,000 tonnes of cherries harvested. And instead of investing in new plantings, cherry trees continue to be cut down in Vignola. Just as in Apulia, Italy's leading region in cherry production.
We are drifting. And it is not just the fault of climate change.
01 May 2023
The market recognises a number of key quality characteristics: a brightly coloured fruit, a strong 'cherry' flavour, a green and turgid stalk. Several new technologies have been developed to prolong the fruit's shelf life.
20 Sep 2023
Among five cultivars tested, 'Gisela 12' and 'Colt' were the most sensitive and tolerant to waterlogging, respectively. The results showed that oxygenation successfully mitigated the effects of waterlogging stress on cherry rootstocks.
26 Dec 2025
In 2024, cherry consumption in the European Union reached 629,000 tonnes, marking a +4.5% increase on an annual basis and reaching its highest level in ten years. Production, imports and exports are also growing, with Italy and Spain among the leading countries.
25 Dec 2025
La Junta de Extremadura ha distribuito 904.540 euro nel secondo pagamento dell’aiuto straordinario 2024 per i cerasicoltori colpiti dal maltempo. La misura, parte del Decreto Legge 3/2025, prevede un’ultima tranche da un milione di euro in arrivo nei prossimi giorni.
