Productivity, sustainability and beauty in 19th- century Sorrento and Amalfi agriculture

The proximity to large markets has enhanced agriculture on the Sorrento and Amalfi Coast since the late Middle Ages. Agriculture evolved by exploiting the market opportunities that the local maritime trade offered and this led to a profound transformation of the territory, unique in the history of Italian agriculture. The landscape of Sorrento and Amalfi, with its terraces and enclosing and retaining walls, reflects the intensive use of land for agricultural purposes, which influenced the economy and favoured significant demographic development. The constant availability of labour and capital from the city stimulated further investment, which never strayed far from sustainability and beauty. By incentivising local production, the farmer has become a maintainer of the land, a manager of the landscape and conservator of environmental quality, a producer of environmental services for the benefit of the entire community, while at the same time bringing greater security to the settlement. In the first paragraph we will illustrate the modifications of the territory in the Middle Ages and in the Modern Age and, in the next two, we will examine the transformations introduced in the 19th century, the golden age of citrus growing in Sorrento and Amalfi.