CEREALICOLTURA BIOLOGICA: INTERVENTI AGROTECNICI E GENETICI PER IL MIGLIORAMENTO QUANTI-QUALITATIVO DEL FRUMENTO DURO E TENERO E LA VALORIZZAZIONE DEI PRODOTTI DERIVATI

Summary

In order to guarantee a suitable income to the farmers and respond to the consumers’ demand, European Commission has proposed new guidelines for the cultivation of cereals. Such proposal strictly depends on: previous decisions of the Community which didn’t give the expected results; the presence of new exporting countries on the international market; the variable cereal production of the last years. Being the new guidelines involving further economic sacrifices of the cereal farmers this project would become essential to recover a strong competitiveness on the international cereals' market.
The competitiveness of cereal sector can be increased by innovative high quality varieties and the set up of suitable cultural techniques maximizing the germoplasm potential. In such a situation a predominant role can be played in Italy by the organic production of cereals with a high technological, nutritional and health quality, whose demand is also strongly increasing on the international market.
Thus, the general objective of the project is to increase the technical and scientific knowledge on common and durum wheat organic production and to transfer innovations to organic farmers through:
- the identification and/or the development of wheat varieties fitting the specific organic farming requirements, with technological characteristics more closed to the market and consumers’ needs, in order both to improve cereal food quality and valorize the added value of typical and niche productions;
- the set up/refining of cultural techniques with a low environment impact, looking at those with the best impact on the technological and nutritional quality of the grains (manuring and biotic adversity control). Particular attention will be paid to the health aspect, monitoring the presence of toxic substances on the grains and their products in the critical points of the production chain;
- the definition of efficient methodologies for the traceability and the control of raw materials and their derived products.
The expected results of this project are the following:
1.availability of lists of recommended wheat varieties (commercial and/or local and old ecotypes) assuring satisfactory performances in organic farming.
2.Set up of organic cultural techniques and systems, in the framework of EC regulation 2092/91, able to maximize the productive and qualitative potentialities of the selected germoplasm.
3.Models and protocols for organic production chains of certified cereal food (bread, pasta, cookies) exploiting the technological, nutritional and health quality of the selected wheat germoplasm, the raw materials and the derived products, including those typical of some Italian areas .
4.Availability of new rustic and competitive wheat germoplasm resistant to the main biotic and abiotic stress and with a high sink and source activity.
5.Advanced analytical methods (DNA-based) for the traceability (plant species, variety fingerprinting for authenticity assessment, GMO and pests detection, etc.) of the organic cereal production chains (seeds, grains, flours, food) and for the identification of their geographical origin.
The peculiarity and the added value of this project consists in the multidisciplinary approach (breeding, agro-techniques, pest and weed control, commercial and nutritional quality of food products, food safety) to the many scientific and technical problems of the organic cereals' production .
The overall objectives will be achieved through a number of work-packages, coordinated by WP leaders selected for their expertise in different area of the cereal and organic food and farming research and for their managerial capacity. The work-packages are the following:
- WP1 (UO1: leader Fabrizio Quaranta, CRA-ISC Rome); national network of organic field trials on common and durum wheat varieties;
- WP2 (UO2: leader Marina Pasquini,CRA-ISC Rome); breeding and genetic improvement;
- WP3 (UO3: leader Maurizio Perenzin, CRA-ISC S. Angelo L.); organic farming systems
- WP4 (UO4: leader Orazio Li Destri, CRA-ISC Foggia); crop protection and weed management;
- WP5 (UO5: leader Giuseppina Avantaggiato, CNR, Bari); monitoring of toxic substances through the organic cereal production chain;
- WP6 (UO6: leader Valeria Terzi, CRA-ISC Fiorenzuola d'Arda); traceability in the organic cereal production chain
- WP7 (UO7: leader Ester De Stefanis, CRA-ISC Rome); technological quality of organic wheat products
- WP8 (UO8: leader Fiorella Sinesio, INRAN Rome); nutritional and health quality of organic wheat products.
The project makes also use of the external collaboration of the following research groups and associations:
AIAB- Associazione italiana agricoltura biologica (Organic farming Italian association;
Regioni: Piemonte, Lombardia, Veneto, Friuli, Emilia R., Toscana, Abruzzo, Sicilia (Experimentation centres of regional governments);
Istituto di genetica "Strampelli" di Lonigo (“Strampelli” Genetics Institute of Lonigo, VI);
CERMIS (Research and experimentation Centre of plant improvement “N.Strampelli”) of Tolentino, MC
Universities of Perugia, Pisa, Viterbo, Pisa, Ancona Basilicata, Catania, Foggia, Napoli, Palermo;
Stazione Sperimentale di Granicoltura di Caltagirone (Experimental Grains Station of Caltagirone);
Seed selector companies and organic farmers' Cooperatives;
CRA-Istituto sperimentale per la patologia vegetale of Rome (Plant patology Institute).
The project results of the first year of activity have been presented at the one day seminar “BIOCER, progetto Agricoltura Biologica” in S.Angelo Lodigiano, LO (I) on 11th October 2005. The oral presentations are available in the uploaded documents.