Structures and Competitiveness of the Cactus Pear Cultivation in Italy

In the past cactus pear cultivation was not a particularly large sector within the area of fruit cultivation as whole in Italy. Presently it is second place in the world after Mexico for product quantity. Italian cactus pear cultivation over the last twelve years has been marked by continuous increase in terms of surface areas and production of which almost 90% is concentrated in Sicily. In the relative companies, production and processing innovation have been introduced, which have also produced the intensification of the commercialisation of a wide variety of transformed products. In the era of globalisation, characterised by a more accentuated market interdependency, due to the affirmation of a new-economy, to the bringing down of protectionist systems, to the improvements in transport and communication system, etc.. it means that it’s important to be able to rely on a competitive system of companies, oriented towards consolidating already existing segments of the market, and to continuing the search for new gaps in international markets. In Sicily, cactus pear cultivation assumes a considerable importance and has led to social and economic development in regard to is a labour intensive cultivation characterised by high levels of activity due to the multiplicity of cultivation operations which cannot mechanised and thereby guaranteeing good levels of employment. The research was conducted on representative production units in order to define the structure and potentiality of the cactus pear productive system analysed through instruments of technical and economic efficiency.