Fruit picking jobs in Italy: regions, harvest calendar and workers’ rights

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What gets picked in Italy, and when?

Italy is one of Europe’s largest fruit producers, and every region follows its own harvest calendar. Farms hire fixed-term farmworkers, knownas operai a tempo determinato, for anything from a few weeks to an entire picking campaign lasting several months.

The job involves hand picking, sorting, grading and filling crates or bins, often from ladders or orchard platforms. Packing houses also takeon seasonal staff for packing, quality control and preparing shipments, which suits people who prefer indoor work.

Italy’s main picking regions

• Trentino-South Tyrol (Val di Non, Val Venosta): apples, late August to October.
• Piedmont (around Saluzzo): apples, peaches and kiwis, June to November.
• Emilia-Romagna: peaches, nectarines, pears and apricots, June to September.
• Basilicata (Metapontino) and Campania: strawberries, February to June.
• Apulia: cherries in spring, table grapes and tomatoes in summer.
• Sicily and Calabria: oranges, clementines and lemons, November to April.

A harvest calendar that runs almost all year

A mobile picker can link several campaigns: strawberries in the South in spring, summer stone fruit in Emilia-Romagna, Alpine apples in autumn,then citrus in Sicily or Calabria through the winter. Exact dates shift with the weather and the altitude of the orchards.

What do growers look for?

No qualifications are needed, but stamina, punctuality and tolerance of heat matter a lot. Basic Italian, or German in South Tyrol, makes dailylife easier, and a driving licence is a real asset in rural areas where public transport to the farms is limited.

Who is allowed to work in Italian orchards?

Citizens of the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland can work in Italy freely, with no permit. They only need acodice fiscale (tax code) from the Revenue Agency and, for stays over three months, registration with the local town hall.

The Decreto Flussi for non-EU nationals

Everyone else, including UK and US citizens, goes through the Decreto Flussi quota system. The 2026-2028 plan allows 497,550 entries, 164,850 of themin 2026; 88,000 places are reserved for seasonal farm and tourism work, rising to 89,000 in 2027 and 90,000 in 2028.

The employer files the request on the Interior Ministry’s ALI portal on the click day, set at 12 January for agriculture in both 2026 and 2027.Once the nulla osta is issued, the worker applies for a visa at the consulate, then signs a residence contract in Italy.

Length of stay and other routes

A seasonal permit lasts at most nine months in any twelve. A multi-year authorisation exists for workers who return regularly. Young people fromcountries with an Italian working holiday agreement, such as Canada or Australia, may sometimes pick fruit outside the quota system.

Caporalato: a real risk

Caporalato means illegal recruitment by gangmasters who skim wages, charge for transport to the fields and impose abusive work rates.Law 199/2016 and Article 603-bis of the Criminal Code punish both the gangmasters and the employers who knowingly use them.

Pay and working conditions for pickers

Italy has no statutory minimum wage. Pay comes from the national collective agreement for agricultural and nursery workers and from provincialagreements, which set hourly rates by province. Fixed-term farmworkers also receive a supplement in place of holiday pay and extra monthly salaries.

Hours, contracts and payment

The farm agreement sets a 39-hour working week, with overtime paid at a higher rate. The contract must be in writing and reported by theemployer through a mandatory notice the day before work starts. Piece rates are allowed but cannot fall below the agreed minimum.

Housing, transport and costs to plan for

Some northern farms offer shared rooms, occasionally deducted from wages, while accommodation is scarcer in the South. The table below lists thecost items and documents that most often appear in a seasonal picker’s budget during an Italian harvest.

Steps to land a picking job

The route depends on nationality, but applying directly to fruit cooperatives and public employment centres remains the safest option. The stepsbelow outline a typical path for an EU candidate or for a non-EU worker hired through the Decreto Flussi.

1. Pick a region and crop that match your available dates.
2. Prepare a short CV in Italian or English listing farm experience and availability.
3. Check the local centro per l’impiego, EURES listings and fruit cooperatives.
4. Ask in writing for the contract, pay scale and housing terms.
5. Get a codice fiscale; non-EU workers wait for the nulla osta, then apply for a visa.
6. Sign the contract before the first day and confirm it has been reported.
7. Keep payslips and timesheets until the season is over.

Common mistakes and scams to avoid

Abuse mainly affects isolated workers recruited verbally or through social media. A few simple habits help avoid most cases of undeclared workor exploitation, particularly in the intensive vegetable and fruit districts of southern Italy during the summer peak.

• Paying a middleman for a place on a team or a lift to the fields.
• Starting work without a written contract or prior notice to the authorities.
• Accepting a per-crate rate that falls below the agreed hourly minimum.
• Handing your passport to an employer or team leader.
• Trusting adverts that promise a visa in exchange for a processing fee.

Do I need to speak Italian to pick fruit?

Not for the harvest itself, where instructions are simple and usually demonstrated on site. Understanding some Italian does help, however, toread your contract, check your payslip and report a problem to the labour inspectorate if something goes wrong.

Can I stay on the farm for free?

It depends on the grower. In Trentino-South Tyrol many farms offer a room, free or deducted from wages. For non-EU workers the employer muststate the accommodation in the application, so check those conditions carefully before travelling to Italy.

When must an employer file the Decreto Flussi request?

Farm requests are filed on the click day, 12 January in both 2026 and 2027, through the ALI portal. Requests are handled in order of arrival,so you need to find an employer several months before the season you are targeting.

Can I go back to the same farm next year?

Yes. Seasonal workers have a priority right to be rehired for the same activity if they request it in writing within three months of the contractending. Non-EU workers who have worked seasonally in Italy recently also get priority within the quotas.

What should I do if I meet caporalato?

Write down names, places, hours and any money taken, then contact the labour inspectorate, the Carabinieri or a farmworkers’ union. Victims ofexploitation who cooperate with the authorities can obtain protection and a specific residence permit in Italy.