‘Fruit Detective’ Seeks To Preserve Lost Italian Varieties For Vital Breeding
- gillmcshane
- Nov 20
- 2 min read
Italian agronomist Isabella Dalla Ragione is leading efforts to save Italy’s forgotten fruit varieties by searching abandoned orchards and gardens in the hope of helping growers cope with climate change.
Her work as part of the Archeologia Arborea foundation focuses on finding rare apples, pears, cherries, plums, peaches, and almonds cited in centuries-old diaries, farming documents, and Renaissance art.
To date, the 68-year-old has amassed a collection that includes about 150 varieties from Italian regions: Tuscany, Umbria, Emilia-Romagna and Marche.
Dalla Ragione’s discoveries not only protect Italy’s agricultural heritage but also offer broad genetic resources that are crucial for climate-resilient production since heirloom varieties often withstand droughts, heat, and, cold better than modern breeds.
“Heirloom varieties... are able to adapt to climate change, to more severe water shortages, to extremes of cold and heat,” Mario Marino, from the climate change division of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, told AFP.
While Italy remains a major fruit producer, since WWII the country’s commercial production has relied primarily on a handful of non-Italian varieties, leading to a dramatic decline in local diversity.
In the pear sector, Italy is Europe’s leading producer and the third-largest global grower. However, more than 80% of its pear production comprises just five modern varieties which offer harvesting, storage, and shelf-life benefits.
“There used to be hundreds, even thousands, of varieties because each region, each valley, each place had its own," Dalla Ragione told AFP.
The conservation work is urgent, as the loss of old flavourful varieties can mean a loss of food security and resilience to crop diseases and climate extremes.
“A much more severe disease arrives, one that improved varieties are normally more resistant to... and the local varieties perish, or perhaps don't produce fruit,” explained Marino, who works with Dalla Ragione's foundation as an advisor.
According to the experts, the key for the future is to cross modern and old-fashioned varieties when breeding new ones.
“Preserving one's heritage means preserving the land, preserving biodiversity... and (allowing) us to use that DNA for new genetic resources,” pointed out Marino.
Forming part of an EU-funded project, the non-profit Archeologia Arborea foundation conserves the lost varieties in historical gardens.
The organisation facilitates access for researchers, all with the aim of restoring local biodiversity and re-building varietal resilience.
“We don't do all this research and conservation work out of nostalgia, out of romanticism," emphasised Dalla Ragione.
“We do it because when we lose variety, we lose food security, we lose diversity and the system's ability to respond to various changes, and we also lose a lot in cultural terms.”
Beyond document research, Dalla Ragione relies greatly on oral histories from older generations, whose passing jeopardises the transmission of critical traditional cultivation knowledge.
Many of her varietal discoveries were found in monastery orchards, the gardens of nobility, and common allotments.
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