Rediscovering the virtues of the typical leguminous crops of the Tuscan countryside, such as vetch and chickpea, in terms of sustainability, in order to understand how resistant they are to drought and adverse environmental conditions. This is the challenge that the University of Pisa is taking on as part of Valereco, a new project funded by the Horizon Europe programme that brings together 15 partners from 11 countries.
“The main objective,” explains Professor Daniele Antichi of the Agricultural, Food and Agro-Environmental Sciences Department of the University of Pisa, “is to promote the uptake of legumes in agriculture and to quantify and enhance their environmental and economic value”.
The UniPi research teami, from the left Clarissa Clemente, Silvia Tavarini, Edoardo Monacci, Gabriele Sileoni, Lorenzo Tramacere, Daniele Antichi, Silvia Pampana
“The project aims to involve farmers and agricultural consultants,” Antichi continues, “and to this end we will organise three ‘living labs’ together with the University of Florence and the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. Incorporating legumes into cropping systems has significant benefits, such as improving soil health, increasing biodiversity and reducing the need for synthetic fertilisers. However, many farmers tend to underestimate or ignore these benefits because of technical difficulties”.
In general, Valereco will focus on three main grain legumes (soybean, pea, chickpea), five main forage crops (vetch, clover, white clover, purple clover, alfalfa), one secondary forage crop (sulla) and three minor grain legumes (lupin, broad bean, lentil). The ‘Enrico Avanzi’ Agro-Environmental Research Centre, where trials will be carried out, is involved on behalf of the University of Pisa.