Press release
, François-Xavier Branthôme
EUR 615 000 to improve processing tomato production
Last year, the amounts spent on work commissioned by Italy’s Pomodoro Nord IO in favor of the processing tomato sector amounted to EUR 615 000. This is the figure announced by IO President, Tiberio Rabboni, during a conference presenting projects and experimental activities, coordinated by the IO, which was held in early December in Piacenza.
“The IO, explained Rabboni, functions so that the sector can have new knowledge and new operational tools to fight against the most insidious plant diseases and minimize damage to the sector. To this end, in 2019, we succeeded in activating, in collaboration with other partners, public and private resources for a total amount of EUR 615 000 to improve the production of tomatoes: EUR 76 000 for variety trials, EUR 485 000 for Operational Groups for Innovation assigned to “defense against the red spider mite” and to “satellite images”, EUR 3 500 for the dissemination of spider mite “predators” in the fields and, in the near future, an "advance" of EUR 50 000 for regional compensation funds for farmers affected by the Ralstonia attacks in 2019."
In detail, the IO funded a varietal testing project to improve the quality and resistance of raw materials in collaboration with growers in the regions of Parma, Piacenza and Ferrara.
The IO has also invested EUR 50 000 in the "Idra" project, an Operational Group for Innovation (GOI) created to combat the presence of the red spider mite, a pest that threatens tomato crops. The total amounted to EUR 250 000, 70% of which were co-financed by the Emilia-Romagna region. Due to run until spring 2020, the project will involve the Terrepadane Agricultural Consortium (prime contractor), the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Piacenza, the producers’ organization Ainpo, the Center for Training, Experimentation and Innovation, and four farms in the province of Piacenza. In the context of the work against red spider mites, the IO also invested EUR 3 500 for the experimentation of organic control methods using phytoseiids, mite predators of the red spider.
Finally, among the projects activated by the IO and co-financed by the Region to a level of 70%, it is important to mention the Operational Group for Innovation "monitoring of tomato fields by satellite imagery from the European Space Agency". “In this project,” explains Rabboni, “the satellite images of the plots, correctly analyzed and interpreted, will allow the early identification of possible plant diseases, the monitoring of the phenological development of tomato crops according to the different climatic episodes and the verification of the areas actually cultivated. All this is useful information for the optimization of agronomic management and for relationships in the sector.” This GOI will last 30 months (from 1 March 2020 to 31 August 2022) and will involve several partners, including the CRPV (Center for Research in Plant Production), the Sacred Heart Catholic University, the companies Dinamica, Agronica and Citimap, as well as seven industrial tomato processing companies.
Idra: improving plant-health defenses against the red spider-mite
The red spider mite, which threatens industrial tomato crops, has already badly affected the Piacenza region, which is a historic production area with around 10 300 hectares planted with tomatoes in 2019, causing a significant decrease in the quantities and quality of the raw material grown, especially during the 2018 season.
Idra (acronym for “Innovazione della Difesa Fitosanitaria contro il Ragnetto rosso”) is an experimental project that will last until spring 2022. It received funding from the Emilia-Romagna regional authority, as part of the Rural Development Plan, for an amount of EUR 180 000 out of a total cost of EUR 250 000.
For Marco Crotti, President of the Terrepadane Agricultural Consortium "the red spider is a serious problem that must be resolved in order to protect a vital sector. (…) Terrepadane's mission is to enhance the activity of agricultural businesses by offering them services, but also by identifying solutions to the problems that arise. The red spider in the Piacenza region is a major disaster and represents a very worrying and difficult variable in managing tomato crops, because it can compromise production and lead to a significant increase in pest control costs. The objective of the project is therefore to identify an effective control strategy in the hope of obtaining concrete results, which this sector deserves,” concluded Crotti, “because it is vital for the economy of our territory.”
Among those attending this presentation was the Regional Councilor for Agriculture, Simona Caselli, who confirmed the support of the Region for research and experimentation planning: "This project, which intends to develop sustainable precision techniques in order to effectively respond to a persistent plant-health problem, comes in addition to other projects dedicated to the tomato processing sector, financed by schemes aimed at innovation in the context of the Rural Development Program. Climate change, environmental sustainability objectives, the need to remain competitive on the market with quality products that guarantee income for farmers, all of these issues require constant effort and commitment to innovation. This is why the Emilia-Romagna region has invested massively in research and experimentation in agriculture, and allocated EUR 50 million, the highest amount of all European regions, to support operational groups for innovation like Idra. To date, 125 projects have been funded, which represent a unique wealth of knowledge available for the entire agri-food system of Emilia-Romagna.”
From the left : Paolo Gazza (director Op Ainpo); Tiberio Rabboni (president OI Pomodoro Nord); Simona Caselli (Regional Councilor for Agriculture); Marco Crotti (president Consorzio agrario Terrepadane) and Emanuele Mazzoni (professor at Sacred-Heart Catholic University).
The details of the Idra project
Professors Vittorio Rossi and Emanuele Mazzoni, from the Sacred-Heart Catholic University of Piacenza, presented the five main stages of the project:
- collecting information on farm situations, identifying factors of predisposition to the infestation of crops by the red spider mite and causes explaining the increasing difficulties encountered in plant-health prevention of this pest;
- the formulation and updating of guidelines for the prevention and management of red spider mites and comparison with existing farming techniques;
- the study of the dynamics of mite populations (phytophagous and predatory) and the mechanisms of resistance against mite-control substances;
- the dissemination to the various operators in the sector of an innovative defense approach for processing tomato crops, based on the results of scientific research;
- the provision of training for growers to help them implement effective crop protection in the fields.
Source: OI Pomodoro Industria Nord Italie
