Margherito

Organic durum whole wheat flour old Sicilian
Stone milled wheat

Margherito wheat is the twin brother of the best known “Senatore Cappelli”, which together with Bidì derives from a North African population called “Mahamuodi” initially selected by the geneticist Nazareno Strampelli in 1915. It soon spread in Italy between Puglia and Sicily thanks to its easy adaptability. It takes its name from the district of the same name in the territory of Ramacca, in the Catania area, where it was first cultivated. Since then, the Margherito has been preserved and kept in the Caltagirone experimental graniculture station and is included in the list of conservation varieties. We grow it in the hills, in ventilated and fresh fields. It is a fairly competitive strain against weeds. It does not require fertilization because we are able to exploit the fertility of the soil that derives from the rotation with leguminous plants. It manages to give good yields, maintaining high levels of quality. Margherito flour is suitable for both bread-making and pasta production. It has a good protein content and pleasant aromatic nuances.

Why Valdibella grows the Margherito
We decided to grow Margherito when Senatore Cappelli wheat lost its freedom of cultivation. In fact, in June 2016 an Italian public body, CREA di Foggia, who owned the license to produce the seed of Senator Cappelli, sold the license to a private company, the SIS of Bologna. From that moment on, every farmer who wants to grow Cappelli must buy the seed only from SIS which sells it at an autonomously established price but above all obliges the farmer to review the wheat produced.
In our opinion, a monopoly and control regime over food is unacceptable. We want to produce only food that is free because we have the firm conviction that food – and all agricultural products – must be free, as well as healthy and sustainable.