Tonda Francescana hazelnut cultivar
Italian associations and producers started getting interested in hazelnut cultivation again a few years ago. Nowadays, hazelnut cultivation is spreading also outside of the classic cultivation areas due to the high demand, the fact that the high price of dried fruit largely compensates the investment and the considerable financial resources made available to the sector through Rural Development Plans.
The Tonda Francescana® cultivar was patented by the University of Perugia after 30 years of research. The experimentation enabled the attainment of results on field application ready to be transferred to those companies growing hazelnuts. In just a few years, the new cultivar managed to attract the interest of many growers as well as a few multinationals using hazelnuts to make famous confectionery products.