Project promoted by Friuli Venezia Giulia Region L.R. n. 26/05 art. 17

Centro Internazionale di Ricerca per la Montagna

Agenzia Regionale per lo Sviluppo Rurale

Università di Udine – Dipartimento di Scienze degli Alimenti

Ispettorato Ripartimentale delle Foreste di Udine – Vivaio Forestale di Pradandons

Partners

Challenges

The project aim was to enhance the development of new productive pathways for the biological cultivations of spontaneous plants.

The purposes were the production of quality products and the environmental tutelage, employing biological agriculture techniques. The transformation and marketing of the products were studied to give a possibility of income integration for the stakeholders and the valorisation of agritourism offer in the area where plant were cultivated and sold.

The overall objectives were the definition of an innovative spreading model and the support the competitiveness of local agriculture. An important goal was to relaunch the horticultural compartment, stimulating the rural tourism and the joint among agricultural production, the territory, the environmental and the richness of our landscape.

Wild plants cultivation (increasing

supply)

Experimental plots

Spread of results

New processing techniques

Establishing yield and

gastronomy relationship

CirMont Ersa

University Irf

CirMont Ersa

University

CirMont

Ersa

CirMont Ersa

University Irf

Set up of organic farming

techniques

Integration of farm income

Enhancing of farms

holidays

Environment preservation

BioInnovErbe is:

• Test innovative techniques for organic farming• Diversification of yields• Recovery of marginal areas• Profit increase

• Enhancement of local gastronomy• Quality certification of production line

• Conservation of biodiversity• Monitor of wild plants habitats

• Improvement of utilities • Increase of promotional activities • Implementation of hiking trail and gastronomic routes

Interesting areas

Research and experimental activities

The stakeholders (farmers, producers, commercial partners, etc.) were supported by the technical cooperation of the institutional partners.

The project was concluded in 3 years (2008-2010).

The experimental activities were concentrated on the investigation on the best cultural agriculture biological techniques for different species. The plants were chosen considering their productive potentiality and their commercial value.

The steps were:• seed pick up; • comparison between different varieties and ecotypes;• acknowledgment on the spontaneous plants, historical information

about their harvest and utilisation (interviews, questionnaires, etc.)• cultivation trials in 8 fields, to individuate the best results in terms of

productivity, phytosanitary condition and final product quality;• experimentation of seed reproduction, agamic propagation and in

vitrum, culture;• chemical analysis of the field and nutritional analysis on the products; • creation of a data bank on the nutritional characteristics of the plants;• studies on the best modalities of harvest, of conservation and

transformation of the plants;• cooking tests;• knowledge transfer to the farms; • economical analysis of this productive chain; • organisation of conferences, eno-gastronomic events, guided visits to

the experimental fields, publication of a book and practical schedules of cultivation.

Autochtonus Species of the project

COMUN NOME LATIN NOME FRIULAN NOME

Radicchio di monte o Lattuga alpina Blow Sow Thistle

Cicerbita alpine Radìc (lidrìc) di mont

Asparago selvatico o spinoso Sharp-leaved Asparagus

Asparagus acutifolius Sparc salvadi

Pungitopo Butcher’s Broom

Ruscus aculeatus Ruscli, Rusticions

Levistico o Sedano di montagna Lovage

Levisticum officinale Selino di montagne

Silene Bladder Campion

Silene cucubalus Sclopìt

Valerianella Corn Salad

Valerianella olitoria Argielùt

Spirea Goat’s Beard

Spirea Aruncus Penàc

Buon Enrico Good King Henry

Chenopodium bonus henricus L. Jarbe de farine

Experimental fieldsSite Altitude (a.s.l.) Sup. (m2) Species

Piani di Vâs 1400 500 Cicerbita alpina

Monte Arvenis 1700 100 Cicerbita alpina

Chenopodium bonus henricus

Aruncus dioicus

Levisticum officinale

Tramonti di sopra 150 Cicerbita alpina

Chenopodium bonus henricus

Aruncus dioicus

Silene vulgaris

Stevenà di Caneva 300 Chenopodium bonus henricus

Silene vulgaris

Tarcento 800 Chenopodium bonus henricus

Aruncus dioicus

Silene vulgaris

Levisticum officinale

Curiedi 780 200 Cicerbita alpina

Chenopodium bonus henricus

Aruncus dioicus

Levisticum officinale

Aurisina 100 Asparagus acutifolius

Udine 100 Valerianella olitoria

Cicerbita alpina

Blow Sow Thistle

The wild plants that we tested:

Valerianella olitoriaCorn Salad

Ruscus aculeatusButcher’s Broom

Chenopodium bonus-henricus

Godo King Henry

Asparagus acutifolius

Sharp-leaved Asparagus

Levisticum officinaleLovage

Silene vulgarisBladder

Campion

Aruncus dioicusGoat’s Beard

Teaching approach (primary

and secondary

school)Increasin

g of research activity

Implementation of utilities

Development of wild

plants

Farm holidays sector

Mountain areas

Organic farms

BioBioInnovInnovErbeErbe

Results

The main results were: • development of new biological agriculture techniques for spontaneous plants;

• harvest of wild plants (nutritional analysis);

• nursery of wild plants;

• creation of micro-productive chains, able to help in environmental protection and biodiversity tutelage;

• seeds collection (plants for experimental plots);

• achievement of propagation material freely available for farms in the “Vivaio Forestale Regionale of IRF”;

• typical and local products valorisation throughout their nutritional pattern characterisation;

• consolidation of quality and quantity for market offer (fresh plants or transformed products);

• creation of an integration among traditional agriculture and gastronomic compartment, in order to enhance tourism.

The numbers of BioInnoverbe:

– 3 institutional partners;– 1 nursery garden;– 30 harvest points; – 25000 plants employed in the experimentation trial;– 8 experimental fields;– 6 participation to radio and TV programs;– 18 presentations of the project in Italy and in Europe;– 4 participation to national and European conferences;– 46.000 plants freely given to farmers;– 13 scientific papers on local or specialised

magazines;– 4 Ph Doctors and 3 students employed; – 3 relationships with National Agriculture Institutions; – 1 book and a guidebook.

TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY

The products have now to follow a traceable and certified pathway, in order to guarantee their genuineness and

safety. This short chain is related to a “niche market”, deeply

integrated with the typicality of the territory. For this reason, it will be possible to enlarge the offer with the introduction of new cultivars and new vegetable goods available only in FVG.

The quality is a fundamental prerogative and it is the turning point for the expansion of the local economy and tourism.

BioInnovErbe is certainly an innovative project that achieves important results,

for all the stakeholders, from

the ecological (biodiversity tutelage) and economicalpoint of view

The vegetables were obtain with biological-low impact techniques, in marginal and not polluted areas.

Since the very encouraging achievements obtained, the spread of the results, for the knowledge transfer to other similar realities, was organised as follow:

to enhance the employment of the cultural techniques in other areas, similar tot eh experimental one;

to keep on with research activities;

to sensitize all the stakeholders but also the citizens to the patrimony of spontaneous plants of our territory;

since further investigations should be carried out on other spontaneous plants, in order to enlarge the availability of new products, a new project “FutureBioErbe” has just started its experimental trials.