CAMPOVERDE, ITALY — As the name suggests, green fields stretch in every direction here in Campoverde. But where grapes once dominated, the landscape now has a new king: kiwi.
Somewhat improbably, Italy has grown to become the world's largest producer of the odd furry fruit, according to the National Institute of Agricultural Economics, surpassing even New Zealand, which coined the name for the fruit once known as the Chinese gooseberry.
You don't think "kiwi" when you think Italy. In fact, two of the letters that spell the word don't even form part of the Italian alphabet.
Nevertheless, kiwi cultivation is booming, with annual production at more than 400,000 tons, earning millions of dollars for farmers and reviving the economy in once-moribund sections of Italy that people might have otherwise abandoned for the city.
A kiwi plant, it turns out, adapts fairly easily to the infrastructure used for grapes. It is planted along the same configuration of long, furrowed rows; The thin trunk is latched to a post, and its branches spread laterally to form a canopy, just like the grape vine. From a distance you might not even spot the difference, except that the leaves of the kiwi plant are rounder, fuller and a deeper shade of green.
Here in Italy's central Latina province, where farms replaced swampland drained during the Mussolini era, Gianni Cosmi has gradually been converting his family farm over to kiwi. He still dedicates about 50 acres to grapes, much of which ends up as wine. But 35 acres is now planted with kiwi. Sure, he agreed, it's a shift in identity. But it's a profitable one.
"With grapes and wine, there is history," Cosmi, 47, said. "With the kiwi, there is adventure."
Or, what one might call the wow factor. It is quite the attention-grabber when you say you raise kiwi, Cosmi marveled as he surveyed the rows and rows of spindly kiwi trees covering his land.
"If you provide kiwi to the world, everyone takes note," he said. "It is still seen as exotic and something different."
About 80% of Italy's kiwi production is exported, the bulk to Europe and 15% going to the United States. Italy sends kiwis at roughly the opposite end of the calendar from when other big producers such as New Zealand do, providing the U.S. a virtual year-round supply.
Even though kiwis need a lot more water than grapes, the green, tart fruit can earn three times the profit that grapes bring in, Cosmi said.
