Managing Mediterranean Plants with Climate Control and Rainwater Recovery

At a glance

Challenge
Maintain reliable production across around 600 Mediterranean plant species while responding to climate change, reduced rainfall and increasing plant-health pressure.

Approach
Use ventilation, automation, shade screens and rainwater recovery to create greater control over growing conditions, while selecting technology according to the nursery’s actual needs.

Impact
Greater control over climate and water management helps Primavita manage changing growing conditions and work with more confidence.

Plant nutrition
The following products are used as part of Primavita’s plant nutrition strategy: Osmocote 5, Micromax Premium, H2Gro, Geenfix, Peters Professional Allrounder.

Perspective
Mimmo Cataldi, Co-founder of Primavita Nursery, Puglia, Italy.

Adapt production to increasing climate pressure

For a nursery specializing in Mediterranean plants, climate is a fundamental part of production. But even in southern Italy, the conditions growers work with are changing. Mimmo identifies three particular pressures: climate change, lack of rainfall and the increasing spread of insect-borne diseases. “Technology in nurseries has become almost essential.”

Primavita deliberately chose a location close to the sea because the Mediterranean climate provides favorable conditions for its native species. But making the most of those conditions still requires increasing control over the growing environment. For growers, the takeaway is clear: good natural growing conditions do not remove the need to prepare for greater climate variability.

Mimmo Cataldi, Co-founder of Primavita Nursery.

Use technology where it improves control

Primavita uses several technologies to manage the nursery environment, including ventilation, automation systems, shade screens and rainwater recovery. The nursery’s greenhouse infrastructure also includes thermal screening to reduce heat loss, climate monitoring and storage for collected rainwater. Mimmo describes the benefit simply: “Technology gives us a huge advantage.”For Primavita, technology helps keep growing conditions under control and makes it easier to respond when climate conditions change. As Mimmo says: “These tools are vital because they let us work with peace of mind.”

Choose what adds value to your nursery

Mimmo does not see innovation as a replacement for traditional growing knowledge. “Tradition and innovation move forward hand in hand.” His view is pragmatic: every grower has to decide which technologies actually add value to their own production system. “Every grower looks for what they need and takes only what’s useful to them.”

That is particularly relevant for a nursery producing around 600 different Mediterranean species. Technology has to support a diverse crop range rather than impose one standard way of growing. Three practical principles stand out:

• Prepare for greater climate variability: even crops well suited to the local climate benefit from greater control over growing conditions.
• Reduce resource losses where possible: rainwater recovery and climate management can make available resources work harder.
• Choose technology for a reason: adopt tools that solve a real production need rather than technology for technology’s sake.

For Mimmo, innovation and traditional growing knowledge therefore do not compete. The strongest production system uses both.

Mimmo Cataldi together with Marco Lusito and Gianfranco De Palma, founders of Primavita Nursery.

About Primavita Nursery

Primavita was founded in 2009 by Mimmo Cataldi together with Marco Lusito and Gianfranco De Palma. Based in Puglia, Italy, the nursery specializes in the production and propagation of around 600 Mediterranean plant species and combines horticultural expertise with technology focused on plant health, climate management and resource efficiency.

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