Here at Valfrutta, product quality principally means control of all production phases, from the seed to the final product.
This means choosing certified seeds and no GMO seeds, but also managing fertilisers, control of the water used for agriculture and intensive analysis prior to picking. This is how we guarantee the traceability 100% Italian origin of our products.
All our members' crops are grown using the integrated farming method, which offers the perfect compromise between traditional pest control and organic crop growing, in situations where the latter system cannot be used.
The founding principles are:
Reduction to the bare minimum of active substances used in the field.
Use of selective products or ones which have minimal repercussions on the environment.
Balanced fertilisers.
Use of pesticides which are non-toxic or virtually non-toxic for people and for useful insects.
Use of resistant plant varieties.
Crop rotation.
The aim of integrated farming is to combine producers' quality and quantity requirements with a progressive reduction in use of chemical products, which are replaced by alternative products or ones with a low environmental impact.
A key concept is the tolerance threshold: in the past, chemical treatments were performed to calendar, i.e. according to the insect's life cycle, at certain points of the crop cycle, treatments were performed with the sole purpose of preventing a potential infestation, rather than destroying an actual one. This led to performance of many treatments which were not only useless from an ecological, toxicological and financial viewpoint, but also damaging. The tolerance threshold quantifies the need for treatment.
It establishes whether a level of infestation exists below which damage such as to justify chemical treatment does not occur. Active substances are only used when this threshold is exceeded. Like all types of agricultural management, it has benefits but also limits, such as the higher production costs and the need for skilled technical assistance.
Here at Valfrutta, integrated farming is not just a means of reducing the environmental impact of production, but also a philosophy: we are prepared to sustain higher costs, since we know that this guarantees the confidence of our people and the excellence of our products.
Our members talk about our values - integrated farming
