b'BY: FRANCO BRAZZABENIHORTICULTURE IS ITALYS THINGI taly is a country with a high horticultural voca- In various countries, hundreds of more or less Italian horticultural tion. It is a European leader in the production ofadvanced research programs that use NGTs are vegetable and aromatic seeds: the numbers sayalready operational. Many are concerned about hor-it. In 2022, an area of almost 39,000 hectares wasticultural species, in particular the tomato. For exam- seed sector is cultivated for this purpose. The figures are increasing,ple, varieties enriched with GABA (an anti-anxietyestimated at there is more than a doubling from 2012 to today,amino acid), or tolerant to certain pathologies, areover 300 million with an annual +5 per cent in 2022. Seed produc- even capable of more efficient use of water. Again,euro, equal to tion takes place from north to south, with a clearfor tomatoes and other horticultural (and non-horti- 29% of the prevalence of Emilia-Romagna, followed by Puglia,cultural) species, there are interesting projects involv- entire national Marche, Molise and seven other regions in Italy.ing CREA (the leading Italian research organizationbusiness.The most reproduced species are radish, mustard,dedicated to the agri-food supply chains, supervised cabbage, radicchio and onion, with three-zero digitsby the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty in term of surface. In total, the number of multipliedand Forests-Masaf) and some Italian universities. species exceeds 50. The world of research is ready to go.Italian companies produce seeds for the domes-tic market, but also for foreign ones; see for exampleENSURE THE HIGHEST QUALITYcoriander, a species cultivated mainly in India. EvenThe Italian seed sector is strongly committed to seed multinationals look at Italy with great interestimproving the already high quality of its production. for its long tradition. The seed supply chain is being updated through inno-An interesting income opportunity for a sectorvation. Currently this represents a reality of excel-heavily damaged, first by COVID-19 and then bylence in agriculture also in the international markets,In 2022, an area climate anomalies. The high professionalism and spe- but it is believed that only continuous renewal can of almostcialization of Italian farmers are a guarantee recog- guarantee leadership.39,000 nized and sought after everywhere. In fact, the totalThe Smartseed project uses the Seed Mappinghectares turnover produced by the Italian horticultural seedsoftware, capable of verifying the distance betweenwas cultivated forsector is estimated at over 300 million euro, equal tocrops, with the aim of avoiding any genetic pollutionvegetable and 29 per cent of the entire national business, thanksbetween multiplying crops. It is already fully used byaromatic seedsto the work of around 80 companies engaged in theall companies that reproduce seeds of horticultural research, production and sale of vegetable seeds. Inspecies. It allows the georeferencing of plots, defin-July 2023, the new National Plan for Organic Seedsing the isolation distances and possible interferences was approved, which further qualifies the work ofbetween crops of the same species but different vari-Italian seed companies, allowing an increasinglyeties through complex algorithms.wider range of organic seeds to be made available.TRACEABILITY: A FUNDAMENTAL VALUE RESEARCH NEEDS TO BE UPDATED FOR A QUALITY SUPPLY CHAINTo gain competitiveness, the Italian horticulturalRoad to Quality is the Italian seed-to-table certifica-sector is firmly focusing on new genetic researchtion project for vegetable species. The consumer can techniques, known as NGTs. The latter, as stated incount on a brand that certifies the origin, health, sus-the EU Green Deal, can bring a decisive impulse totainability and commitment to adopting ethical pro-the development of new varieties capable of givingduction processes along the entire supply chain. It is concrete answers to the objectives defined by the newthe result of teamwork, which brings together for theThe most community strategies. In other words, the Europeanfirst-time seed companies, nurserymen, farmers andreproduced targets relating to the reduction of the use of pesti- food processing industries, to offer large-scale retailspecies are cides and synthetic fertilizers, as well as the develop- trade and therefore consumers the tools for completeradish, ment of organic cultivation, can, thanks to NGTs, beand transparent communication. mustard, approached in shorter times and with lower costs. Thecabbage, favourable vote of the EU Parliament last February onFranco Brazzabeni is commercial and marketing con- radicchiothe proposed regulation for the development of thesesultant in the international agribusiness, Member of theand onion.techniques, which will now have to be evaluated byBoard of Assosementi and of ISF Groups and writes a blog the Council of the European Union, could lead toon www.agrinotes.it.final approval within the next few months20ISEED WORLD EUROPEISEEDWORLD.COM/EUROPE'