Sicily’s Outdoor Coffee Crop Signals a Warmer Mediterranean
A family near Palermo is now harvesting Arabica coffee outdoors, succeeding after earlier attempts failed because of freezing winters. Scientists attribute the change to a warming Mediterranean climate, though it may also make water supplies less reliable. The small harvest illustrates how climate shifts can move tropical crops into new regions.
Palermo’s Botanical Garden tested 25 coffee plants outdoors in 1905, but winter temperatures below −3°C killed them. A second outdoor attempt in 1911 also ended when freezing weather destroyed the plants.
The Morettino family, in coffee production since 1920, planted roughly 60 Arabica plants in the 1990s using seeds from that garden. After years of low output and some losses, harvests rose from 30 kilograms of cherries in 2021 to about 100 kilograms now. Their plot covers about two hectares at San Lorenzo ai Colli, roughly 350 metres above sea level.
This small Sicilian harvest may encourage farmers in warmer Mediterranean areas to test tropical crops, potentially diversifying incomes. It could also increase pressure on limited water, affecting agriculture and nearby communities if irrigation demand grows. Consumers might see more locally grown specialty coffee, though volumes remain tiny. Researchers may use such plots to study crop adaptation. These are possibilities, not certain outcomes.