PROTECTED DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN (PDO) AND PROTECTED GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION (PGI) ITALIAN CITRUS PRODUCTIONS

Within the field of agrifood and certified fruit and vegetables productions, citrus fruits play a very important role, especially for Italy. Twelve appellations out of the nineteen that have been recognized worldwide have Italian origin. They have become a significant and strategic sector of the national economy, in particular for the South, which, nevertheless, in the recent times is experiencing a severe crisis, with growing loss of market shares and profitability for producers. Therefore, the need of an intervention is pressing now at structural, economic and financial level, to overcome it. Besides, improving production efficiency and farmers’ profits, special attention will be paid to the economic development of the entire production system, focusing on the concept of global quality. The new strategy of the modernization process of Italian citrus growing will be based on two priority targets: food safety for consumer protection and enhancement of agrifood production quality. To this end this report analyzes, in a system perspective, the state of the art of quality productions by adopting SWOT analysis mode. Preferring the system approach implied an articulated group of specific targets aiming at obtaining the improvement of the conditions of the production phase and the market efficiency for citrus productions.