We could have surprised you with special effects, but wine is science (as well as nature and tradition), not science fiction. Identify the most effective agroecological approaches to ensure the socio-economic sustainability of farms, the resilience of the local agri-food ecosystem and at the same time protect biodiversity and the landscape in rural areas. These are the objectives of the European project UNISECO (Understanding and Improving the Sustainability of Agro-ecological Farming Systems in the EU, Understanding and improving the sustainability of agro-ecological systems in the European Union), in which CREA also participates, with its center of Policies and Bioeconomy and whose results presentation ends today.
This is a concrete opportunity at the local level, which provides for innovative methodologies – such as new indicators for the assessment of greenhouse gas emissions, water resources and biodiversity – to assess the sustainability of agricultural systems and the economic and technological changes of companies. UNISECO final results will provide recommendations for the implementation of the European From Farm to Fork strategy, the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the post-2022 CAP national strategic plans.
Among the 15 case studies selected from different European countries participating in the project, there is the Chianti Classico area, the only one in Italy, with a high wine-growing vocation associated with a highly developed rural tourism, widely known internationally, but threatened by the multi-decade intensification of viticulture and the abandonment of marginal land and the consequent uncontrolled advancement of the forest. It should be noted that here the area cultivated organically is equal to 33% of the total agricultural area, a figure that goes well beyond the regional and national ones.
CREA Policies and Bioeconomy discussed some strategies for the agroecological transition together with the “Biodistretto del Chianti”, an association that unites organic operators, local administrators and other actors in the agro-food chain to promote the transition towards a more sustainable agricultural system and resilient. To encourage this process, the following have proven to be crucial: the adoption of sustainable practices – such as inter-row grassing in permanent crops, crop monitoring, small-scale composting and organic farming – capable of reducing the loss of biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions and crop diversification, pursued through the recovery of olive growing in the most marginal areas and the introduction of arable land and horticulture in abandoned land.
The role of local initiatives by farmers and other stakeholders involved (e.g. the Biodistretto del Chianti, collaboration agreements between farmers for the common use of machinery and systems, consultancy activities carried out collectively and first attempts of short supply chains for high quality products). These actions, which must be further promoted, by activating new local supply chain networks, strengthening consultancy services and facilitating access to land. In this sense, the innovations studied within UNISECO, mainly of a social nature, concern the processes of interaction and cooperation between all the actors. The agroecological transition, in fact, also involves the promotion of cooperation initiatives to overcome the diseconomies of scale that weigh on small and medium-sized enterprises (eg the sharing of machinery, consulting services or meteorological data).
UNISECO (Understanding and Improving the Sustainability of Agro-ecological Farming Systems in the EU, Understanding and improving the sustainability of agro-ecological systems in the European Union) is a three-year project (2018-2021) funded by the European Union with the Horizon 2020 program , and made in 15 Member States (including Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, Greece, Finland, Lithuania, Hungary).