We develop innovative agricultural value chains based on local areas in partnership with farmers and their associations

The construction of local integrated biorefineries also arises from the development of innovative agricultural value chains based on raw materials of vegetable origin that take advantage of specific local conditions and biodiversity, ensure the efficient use of resources and are at the same time advantageous to farmers.

We work together with the academic world and foremost Italian and international research centres to identify and study dryland crops of potential industrial interest that can be grown on marginal land that is poorly suited to conventional crops. Our research in this sector covers a wide range of disciplines, from the evaluation of agricultural aspects to genetic improvement, from optimising the mechanisation of agricultural activities to the extraction of active molecules, oils, protein flours and sugars.

Experimental activities carried out over the years have enabled us to develop cultivation protocols for oilseed crops, identifying agricultural practices which farmers should follow for sustainable and efficient crop production.

In January 2015 we entered into a cooperation agreement with Coldiretti (Italian farmers’union), Filiera Agricola Italiana (Italian Agricultural Supply Chain) and Consorzi Agrari d’Italia (Italy's Agricultural Consortium) to disseminate the cultivation of dryland crops among farmers and promote a system of agriculture compatible with local areas and resources.

Through our innovative and sustainable model we aim to provide benefits for the whole system:
 

New income opportunities for farmers
 


for farmers joining the cooperation agreement.  on abandoned or economically marginal lands, through entering into contracts within the system for the agricultural and environmental utilisation of crops.

The cascaded use of resources
Maximising the efficiency using resources from a circular point of view through using all crop components to produce a series of products and by-products extending from biochemicals to animal feeds and to meet the energy demands of an industrial process.

Development of new innovative products
Many chemical and bioproduct intermediates that have application in many sectors - bioplastics, biolubricants, cosmetics, plasticisers, etc. - can be obtained from the oil from the seeds of oleaginous dryland crops.

Cardoon and Safflower: a concrete example of a sustainable agricultural value chain

Cardoon and safflower are two oilseed crops which fit well with our model. Their cultivation offers the agricultural industry and farmers an opportunity to grow on,  abandoned (negative marginality) and uncultivated soils. Thanks to their features, cardoon and safflowers can provide oil and biomass  that meet the requirements of our biorefinery for the production of low environmental impact bioproducts.