Brussels - Exploring the sustainable virtues of leguminous crops typical of the Tuscan countryside, such as vetch and chickpeas, with a focus on evaluating their resilience to drought and adverse environmental conditions. This is the challenge the University of Pisa is tackling as part of Valereco, a new project funded by the Horizon Europe program, uniting 15 partners from 11 countries.

"The main goal," explains Professor Daniele Antichi from the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Agro-Environmental Sciences at the University of Pisa, "is to promote the adoption of legumes in agriculture by assessing and showcasing their environmental and economic benefits."

The project features three "living labs" organized in collaboration with the University of Florence and the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, designed to engage farmers and agricultural advisors. "Incorporating legumes into cropping systems offers significant advantages," Antichi adds, "such as improving soil health, increasing biodiversity, and reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers. However, many farmers tend to underestimate or overlook these benefits due to certain technical challenges."

Overall, Valereco will focus on three major grain legumes (soybean, pea, chickpea), five main forage legumes (vetch, clover, white clover, red clover, alfalfa), one secondary forage legume (sulla), and three minor grain legumes (lupine, fava bean, lentil). The "Enrico Avanzi" Agro-Environmental Research Center at the University of Pisa is involved in the project and will host the field trials. (9colonne)