Mangos Are Now Thriving in the Most Unexpected Place

The mango is a truly fantastic fruit. As Mango.org explains, it is actually a "drupe," aka a "simple fleshy fruit that usually contains a single seed," and belongs to the cashew family. It is about 5,000 years old and originated in eastern India and southern China, spreading across Southeast Asia. Its first seeds made their way to the Middle East, East Africa, and South America around 300 AD. That's where they have thrived ever since, as the fruit has always flourished best in tropical and subtropical climates. Until now.
Over the past several years, mango crops have been popping up in an unexpected location: Sicily. While not typically recognized as an ultra-cold climate, Sicily was once quite distant from being "subtropical." However, experts say that climate change is changing all of this — and rapidly.
In 2021, Sicily experienced temperatures nearing 120°F, marking the highest ever recorded on the European continent. As Euronews highlighted, data from MeteoBlue indicates that the Mediterranean basin, where Sicily is located, is warming 20% faster than the global average.
Related: How Does Climate Impact Wine?
This change in weather has led to an increase in what scientists refer to as "precipitation extremes" and the potential desertification of the island. While none of this is good news for anyone, farmers on the island are at least seizing it as an opportunity to try growing new crops, such as mango and avocado, which are better suited to warmer climates than their previous plantings. And according to a few farmers, they're making a killing in doing so.
'I sell mangoes for 3 to 5 euros per kilo, depending on the variety, quality, and appearance,' Pietro Cuccio, a 70-year-old Sicilian farmer, shared with Green European Journal. 'If you consider that lemons have reached 20 cents, you understand that the price of tropical fruit can be a driving force for a more profitable agriculture.'
As Cuccio explained, he began growing mangoes on the island about two decades ago after returning from stints in Hawaii and Los Angeles, and he fell in love with the fruit. While he says everyone called him "crazy" for trying to cultivate the fruit at that time, he was able to get help from agronomists at the University of Palermo, who helped him find the right soil to make it work. And work it did, as Cuccio says he produces a little more than 44,000 pounds of mangoes each year.
This success is less surprising to experts like w​eather.com meteorologist Jennifer Gray, who shared that climate change is "having a huge impact on agriculture. As temperatures, growing seasons, and precipitation patterns change, farmers are forced to make a decision," Gray added, "This could lead to a huge shift from where we have traditionally seen certain foods grown to a completely new landscape."
Many in Italy are heeding this call. Green European Journal highlighted that data from Coldiretti, Italy's major agricultural organization, shows that the number of hectares used to grow mangoes and avocados has expanded from just 10 hectares in 2004 to 1,200 today.
Related: Seafood Is Getting Riskier to Eat Due to Climate Change, According to Science
However, all this new growth means that other crops typically grown here are being sidelined, including Cuccio's lemons. Italy has also seen a significant decline in olive oil production and wine grape production.
While this may seem like a distant issue if you're reading this from the United States, keep in mind that changes in crop production anywhere in the world will affect you, too — especially when it comes to grocery prices.
Weather.com noted that while most mangos in the U.S. come from Mexico today (about 63% of our total mango imports), that could shift with climate change, as Mexico has experienced its own extreme weather, causing a drop in production, leading to a drop in exports to the U.S. by more than 5% in 2024, causing prices of individual mangoes to continue to rise.
Italians also aren't the only ones in the Mediterranean region testing out new fruits. Phys.org reported on the growing mango trend in Greece, which also had its warmest winter on record in 2024. The publication noted that the Greek state agriculture institute Demeter is working on a study to determine if this tropical fruit and others could address its drought issue and keep farmers working. As the study's supervisor, Teresa Tzatzani, told Phys.org, the point is to "find new ways to face this climate change and make it work in our favor." And if Cuccio's success is any indication, you could soon expect sliced mango to join those cucumbers, tomatoes, and feta in your Greek salads — so long as climate change doesn't get those ingredients first.
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