The third Italian Rain was held on 28 June in the beautiful Borgo Podernovo farmhouse behind Lake Bolsena. It was a day of information, knowledge exchange and data analysis guided by Innovation Broker Marco Lauteri and the CNR Italian Team.
On 28th June, on a splendid sunny day and in front of Lake Bolsena, the third Italian Agroforestry Regional was held. In the months before the meeting, some videos dedicated to the case studies selected for the project and the NewsLetter of the Biodistretto Lago di Bolsena helped to disseminate the AF4EU project of which CNR is a local partner. The day opened with a description of the day’s agenda and a view of the parallel activities in the other countries of Europe. Marco Lauteri, Innovation Broker of the project, gave the general framework in which the European project is included, supporting all those present, and in particular the local advisors, to share local interests and needs and to collect data for a communication more and more customised on their needs. The presence of the advisors thus provided an opportunity to learn the cultivation and economic evidence regarding the reintroduction of wild asparagus; in fact, encouraging the intercropping of Asparagus acutifolius in suitable olive groves has important repercussions on soil and plant health and on the farmer’s income integration.
In the second part of the workshop, value chains were discussed; discussions in working groups, with the different scientific and field experiences, led participants to broaden their knowledge and, in some cases, to reflect on possible local opportunities. The brainstorming on the section dedicated to value chains was rich in interaction and opened up food for thought; thus, back in plenary, one of the working teams focused on one of the case studies such as the alimurgical species of ‘’eatable herbs‘’, i.e. chicory, borage, ‘’dandelion‘’, nettles and ‘’hare’s ears‘’, which were the basis of the Italian peasant and poor man’s food for centuries and which today have returned so predominant in the kitchens of even star chefs. This information gathered in the value chain work will be used to inform the Decision Support System developed as part of the project. With the support of the CNR working team, they then went on to learn about and evaluate the communication methods that will be provided by the Agroforestry for Europe (AF4EU) project. The day ended with a field visit, among a breathtaking panorama of Lake Bolsena and the olive grove of Borgo Podernovo, the host structure.
