Corsican agriculture

Quality and Identity

Corsica is full of different produce and skills that bear witness to its history and location in the heart of the Mediterranean.

This produce has very specific characteristics reflecting the composition, as well as the production and processing methods. These characteristics provide added value and set the produce apart.

Quality recognition is a marker of identity that is recognised outside Corsica and is demonstrated by various official quality labels. No fewer than twelve Corsican agricultural products are protected by a designation of origin (AOC/AOP): wine, Brocciu cheese, olive oil, honey, chestnut flour, cured meat. The clementin, the pomelo and the hazelnuts have Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status, as do the wines from the Ile de Beauté. The clementine has also a Red Label (Label Rouge)

However, Corsica and its producers want to go even further. Various other applications for recognition are pending:  AOC for cheese and the Cap Corse onion, PGI for lamb and goat meat, kiwi and essential oil of everlasting flower.

This official recognition guarantees the origin and quality of the produce. It also enables the produce to be protected and allows the skills used to make them to be passed on, to continue their production and accompanying activities. These quality labels also contribute to the sustainability of traditional landscapes, species and local varieties, as well as establishing the activity in local areas, which are often rural regions susceptible to desertification.

Should the current applications be accepted, Corsica will have one of the widest ranges of recognised produce in Europe.
In parallel, many producers have chosen to embrace organic farming, in all areas of the island’s production: citrus fruit, market farming, bovine meat, wine, honey, chestnut flour, etc.

A FEW STATISTICS

  • Farms: 2,810
  • Total farming land: 420,079 acres
  • Annual Work Units: 4,040
  • Three regional trade bodies recognised by the Ministry of Agriculture
    • SIDOC: olive oil trade organisation
    • ILOCC: milk trade organisation
    • CIVC: wine trade organisation
  • Six recognised local species / breeds
    • “Nustrale” Pig
    • Corsican Goat
    • Corsican Sheet
    • Corsican Cattle
    • Corsican Horse
    • European Dark Bee “Apis Melifera Melifera”of the Corsican variety
  • 12 Designations of Origin (Appellations d’Origine Contrôlée)/ Protected Designations of Origin (Appellations d’Origine Protégée):
    • 4 AOC Corsican wines (1975)
    • AOC Cap Corse Muscat wine (1975)
    • AOC/AOP Corsican Honey (Mele di Corsica) (1998),
    • AOC/AOP Brocciu Cheese (1998),
    • AOC/AOP Corsican Olive Oil (Oliu di Corsica) (2004),
    • AOC/AOP Corsican Chestnut Flour (Farina castagnina corsa) (2006)
    • AOC Prisuttu (Corsican Cured Ham) (2012)
    • AOC Corsican Salami (Coppa di Corsica) (2012)
    • OC Lonzu-Lonzo Ham (2012)
  • Four Protected Geographical Indications
    • PGI Corsican clementines (2007)
    • PGI Ile de Beauté wines (2011)
    • PGI Cervioni hazelnut (2014)
    • PGI Corsican Pomelo (2014)
  • Label Rouge Clementines (2014)
  • Organic Farming
    • 282 farmers
    • 23, 475 acres