The youth are the novelty that is profoundly changing Salentine agriculture, both in the way of producing and in the organization of the commercial chain. From the dozens of new companies that are emerging from traditionally conducted activities, important stories are emerging from a human and economic point of view.
Ugento-Bologna round trip Lucio starts again from the family olive grove
Lucio Paiano is a 35-year-old man, married, who has made a life choice.
Until a few years ago he was in Bologna, where he had moved with a diploma from the professional institute in electrical systems. “I left a few years after finishing school. I told myself: I can’t do much in Ugento, it’s better to go North, there I will realize my life“.
Things are not going bad for Lucio. He had not chosen the professional school as a fallback. The decision to become an electrical installer was a conscious choice because the young man from Ugento is passionate about doing this job. “Things in Bologna – he adds – were going well, customers were satisfied with my service, money was coming in and so I set up my own company ready for the big leap“.
Until, Lucio began to feel nostalgia for the countryside and the sea of Ugento. “I won’t stay here“, he repeated. The land has a very strong call. Ours then has an extraordinary charm.
In 2008 Lucio settled his things in Bologna, prepared the province and returned, already thinking about the family olives to be exploited.
“In 2010 I registered as a grower and asked for help from the Region for the first settlement. I bought a hundred horsepower tractor, a shaker, a sprayer, and a crusher to grind the grass. Enough with herbicides, people want safe products and the earth needs to take back its life. Now I make good extra virgin olive oil and table olives“.
For Lucio Paiano the challenge is just beginning. In the countryside, he is helped by his father. The owned trees are a thousand, another thousand he has rented. Celline and leccini are his passion, and then dried tomatoes, sliced aubergines, and lampascioni.
“I made my choice, in Bologna I could make money, but here it is different I can realize my dream of creating an important agricultural company together with my father”
Article taken from la Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno Saturday 2 February 2013
