T

he typical agricultural form in Val di Non is a small land ownership: the territory is mostly mountainous with little arable land and poor soil fertility. Between the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the main crops were wheat and rye, followed by maize (corn), wheat or buckwheat formenton, and potatoes. The landscape was characterized by a variety of plant species growing wild next to fruit trees such as apricot, walnut, fig, chestnut, cherry, peach, pear, apple. At the edge of the forest there were strawberries, bramble bushes, camomile, mallow, oregano, evening primrose, violet, yarrow and other herbs. They were hedges: field: barberry and privet, blackthorn, hawthorn, elder and pink car. Until the beginning of '900, there were abundant vineyards, especially in areas of Rev, Tavon, Nanno and Denno. Throughout the nineteenth century until the early twentieth century, the Val di Non pursed the cultivation of cereals, vineyards and the mulberry tree for the production of silk. When devastating diseases struck these plants, there emerged the critical need to change. Hence, in the 1840s and 1850s, most of these crops were abandoned to make way for pear and apple orchards. The apple tree was introduced in the years around 1800 in the area of Rev, favored by the mild climate and fertile soil. After 1870, growers succeeded in the production of a specific apple, the Renetta. The Renetta was popular beyond the valley and remained at the top of the production until substituted by the Golden Delicious. In 1929, the cultivated fields in Val di Non apples were a total of 116 acres, compared with 208 acres vineyards. Between 1920 and 1940, apple and pear production increased, due to their profitability as crops.

The Apple and the Val di Non

nineteenth century and the thirties of the twentieth century were built the most important work of collecting and channeling of water, with the aim of bringing irrigation in rural areas. One of the most important aqueducts was built in Val di Tovel , finished in 1852. At the beginning of the twentieth century, there emerged the Cooperative movement begun by Don Guetti, which gave rise to some wineries, the syndication of the fruit growers to Family

Cooperatives food stores and Casse Rurali, cooperative banks.. The first Fruit cooperative was founded in Rev, followed in 1910 and Denno and Nanno in 1912. The cooperatives also began to manage the stores containing fruit, which were born after 1924 and developed particularly in the fifties. In 1989, the Melinda Consortium was founded, in order to certify the origin and the production of apples. Today, the Consortium brings together more than 4,000 fruit growers, who grow to 54% of the apple production.. Written by Dottoressa Giulia Stringari, Associazione Pro Loco Cles e Associazione Pro Cultura Centro Studi Nonesi

In the thirties, apple and pear production counted for 40% of the provinces area. At that time, however, the practice that still prevailed in the Val di Non was the meadow-orchard. On one side of the field were planted fruit trees to trees that are geographically distant and another part was planted with grass to obtain the fodder intended for animals. After World War II, the cultivation of fruit brought wealth and changed the appearance of the Val di Non. Surely, the improvement of irrigation systems gave a significant contribution, as well as the creation of cooperatives. Between the mid-

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