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The study abroad program described in this article aims to create an integrated learning experience by pairing the geographer's sense (and appreciation) of place and space with the environmental ethicist's dedication to (and interrogation of the practice of) valuing and preserving places and spaces--both of which are explored through the lens of systems of agriculture and food production. The particular place chosen as the setting, and as the focus of the geographic and ethical analysis, is none other than one of the richest "food and agriculture regions" of the world: the provinces of Tuscany and Umbria, the "Green Heart of Italy" (Rowlinson 2019). The goal was, and is, to create and provide a program that: (1) spans multiple academic "levels" (undergraduate, masters, and PhD); (2) is accessible to people carrying varying credit loads; and (3) serves students from diverse disciplinary homes. In the most practical sense, the way the authors "enact(ed) interdisciplinarity" is through a multilevel study abroad experience that comprises courses in geography and philosophy and that takes food and agriculture as its subjects, particularly emphasizing these as human practices that have shaped, and been shaped by, the geography and history of central Italy. Though the vision was compelling, it took some extensive planning and cross-disciplinary thoughtfulness to figure out how to execute it. As might be expected, a variety of constraints (as well as opportunities) emerged as the authors sought to build an interdisciplinary, short-form study abroad course that must, by design, offer something to suit the varied needs of the diverse array of students that such a wide-ranging program would (hopefully!) attract. This paper explains the nuts and bolts of how these challenges were resolved while bringing a vision to fruition.

Purpose: This paper aims to reveal, and contribute to an understanding of, the processes that connect learning and innovation networks in sustainable agriculture to elements of the mainstream agricultural regime. Drawing on the innovations and transition literature, the paper frames the analysis around niche-regime interaction using the notion of niche-regime compatibility. Design/Methodology/Approach: 17 Learning and Innovation Networks for Sustainable Agriculture (LINSA) engaged in agricultural food production, non-food and rural development were analyzed. In line with the project's transdisciplinary approach data were collected in a series of participatory workshops. Findings: Five modes of LINSA-regime interaction are distinguished based on compatibility. The level of LINSA-regime compatibility influences the extent of the diffusion of LINSA ideas and practices into the regime. However, interaction processes within these modes reveal multiple and diverse connections between LINSA and regime entities suggesting a more complex relationship exists. Practical implications: A range of connecting processes and activities (for example, certification, exemption from regulation, facilitation of networking) can bring about effective LINSA-regime interaction and could be externally supported. Originality/Value: Empirical evidence from 17 case studies provides valuable insights from a number of different contexts across Europe. By directing analysis of interaction at the level of LINSA (niche project), rather than at the macro level, the study offers an original perspective. It suggests that the transition to sustainable agriculture might be understood as a complex of interactive processes leading to a series of adaptive changes, rather than as regime change.

Remote images are useful tools for detecting and monitoring landslides, including shallow landslides in agricultural environments. However, the use of non-commercial satellite images to detect the latter is limited because their spatial resolution is often comparable to or greater than landslide sizes, and the spectral characteristics of the pixels within the landslide body (LPs) are often comparable to those of the surrounding pixels (SPs). The buried archaeological remains are also often characterized by sizes that are comparable to image spatial resolutions and the spectral characteristics of the pixels overlying them (OBARPs) are often comparable to those of the pixels surrounding them (SBARPs). Despite these limitations, satellite images have been used successfully to detect many buried archaeological remains since the late 19th century. In this research context, some methodologies, which examined the values of OBARPs and SBARPs, were developed to rank images according to their capability to detect them. Based on these previous works, this paper presents an updated methodology to detect shallow landslides in agricultural environments. Sentinel-2 and Google Earth (GE) images were utilized to test and validate the methodology. The landslides were mapped using GE images acquired simultaneously or nearly simultaneously with the Sentinel-2 data. A total of 52 reference data were identified by monitoring 14 landslides over time. Since remote sensing indices are widely used to detect landslides, 20 indices were retrieved from Sentinel-2 images to evaluate their capability to detect shallow landslides. The frequency distributions of LPs and SPs were examined, and their differences were evaluated. The results demonstrated that each index could detect shallow landslides with sizes comparable to or smaller than the spatial resolution of Sentinel-2 data. However, the overall accuracy values of the indices varied from 1 to 0.56 and two indices (SAVI and RDVI) achieved overall accuracy values equal to 1. Therefore, to effectively distinguish areas where shallow landslides are present from those where they are absent, it is recommended to apply the methodology to many image processing products. In conclusion, given the significant impact of these landslides on agricultural activity and surrounding infrastructures, this methodology provides a valuable tool for detecting and monitoring landslide presence in such environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We investigate how the structural conditions of eight different European agricultural innovation systems can facilitate or hinder collaboration and social learning in multidisciplinary innovation networks. Methodology: We have adapted the Innovation System Failure Matrix to investigate the main barriers and enablers eight countries (England, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, The Netherlands and Switzerland). Findings: Results show some of the recent trends the AKS actors in these countries have experienced and how these have affected their potential to act as collaborators in multidisciplinary innovation networks. Lack of funds, combined with horizontal and vertical fragmentation and the lack of proper evaluation criteria for collaborative innovation networks are among the most important threats we found. Practical Implications: This study shows that each national AIS has some unique features. This means that the implementation of policies promoting collaboration and social learning (e.g. the European Innovation Partnerships and Operational Groups) should depend on a critical reflection of the existing structural elements of the AIS in each country and whether there is a need for inclusion of new actors, or whether certain innovations for collective goods should be promoted. Originality: The paper contributes to the ongoing discussion in the scientific literature on the advantages and disadvantages of privatization of extension and advisory services and the shift from thinking in terms of the traditional Agricultural Knowledge System towards a broader Agricultural Innovation System.

Understanding the socio-economic channels through which farmers affect agro-biodiversity (ABD) represents a relevant research area, especially in the light of the new sustainable development paradigm. Supporting ABD is one of the main goals of the EU Green Deal and the agricultural sector is being called on for a higher commitment. Nowadays, ABD interventions are linked not only to the genetic and natural resources of species, but also to farming practices, land management, living standards in rural areas and all the policy interventions supporting them. However, the existing literature is still mainly focused on the environmental and agronomic perspectives. This paper aims to assess the extent to which different socio-economic and policy factors affect the performance of farmers in supporting ABD at the territorial level. Starting from the FADN data and focusing on Italy, we built a new regional comprehensive indicator that accounts for three levers through which farmers mostly interact and can influence ABD: land use strategies, agriculture practices and management decisions, and Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funds. Results reveal a heterogeneous spectrum of indicator scores at the regional level. Land use strategies have a significant relevance for the North-East regions and the Islands (Sicily and Sardinia), whereas agricultural practices emerge as the primary influential factors in the Centre and South. Policy funds dominate in the North-West, reflecting the greater expenditure capacity of the northern regions. These findings have important policy implications for the future of the CAP and the biodiversity EU strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between agriculture, territory and the city has always been an object of interest for legislators due to the multiplicity of factors involved. In this paper some reflections are made on the new functions of peri-urban agriculture. The premise being that the rural landscape cannot be separated from the analysis of production factor needs. The control mechanisms of landscape variation, therefore, should take into account the main local features and the needs of the most recent phenomena. Often, however, the new land uses occurred through the progressive erosion of rural space from its original agricultural purposes. The logic behind this dismissing the loss of rural space in quantitative terms and, above all, in qualitative terms. The needs of the new panorama, which saw us forced to live with the pandemic that afflicted us in recent years, can, however, also be an interesting opportunity to improve agricultural development models, especially in suburban areas. This paper compares the opportunities offered by the European framework with its new tools and the local regional contexts that constitute the Italian panorama. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a response and a reaction to the phenomenon of rural decline, the study of rural transformations has become an important research field in recent years, with special concern to the adaptation of agricultural systems, to the survival of rural communities and to the strategies of permanence in place at an individual farmer level. Based on a field research among farmers operating in the Gran Sasso and Laga Mountains National Park (a mountainous area in Central Italy that presents some rural decline related characteristics), this study is aimed at identifying the reasons behind permanence in place from the farmers' perspective. The farms' situation and the farmers' choice to keep staying in the remote areas of the Park are analyzed. The research has been carried out following a partially mixed methodology, which has combined quantitative and qualitative techniques, such as a secondary data analysis, a direct survey, territorial focus groups and face-to-face in-depth interviews. Based on the structural analysis of the rural decline within the area of the Park, the paper analyzes the processes of rural change associated with farmers' strategies to cope with the difficulties as well as the reasons behind their willingness to stay (permanence) according to an anti-reductionist view of individualism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The leading role of Italy in the cultivation of durum wheat stimulated intense breeding activities in the country from the beginning of the 20th century, much earlier than in any other country involved in durum wheat production. Older, genetically more heterogeneous landraces were replaced with new, highly productive, superior quality varieties, and this led to an inevitable reduction in the overall genetic diversity among new cultivars, which makes the genetic variability preserved in old cultivars particularly valuable and important. The aim of this paper was to assist future breeding programs by providing a detailed description of the history of durum wheat breeding in Italy and of the changes in yield, quality, and related traits that subsequently occurred, starting from the most diffuse landraces present between 1900 and 1920 up until the present day. The parallel evolution of breeding techniques, breeding goals, and agricultural systems in this period is also described, and some future breeding goals suggested. In the current context of climate change and of rapidly mutating pathogen populations, preserving the yield level through the continuous introduction of new cultivars by exploiting the reservoir of largely unused genetic variation stored in old cultivars and landraces could be as important as increasing grain yield and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of sustainable development has been attracting the attention of the scientific and professional community for decades. Various researches and papers focused on the concept of sustainability, exploring it through the prism of the economic, ecological and social subsystem. In this paper, the authors focus on agriculture and its sustainability. Starting from the assumption that organic farming is a sustainable system production, the authors turn to institutional support, trying to find a link between EU agricultural policy (CAP) and the growth of areas in organic agriculture. The research showed that this kind of support system failed to play the role that was intended for it and did not lead to mass acceptance of organic agriculture everywhere. Authors on the example of Denmark, Germany and Italy show the extent to which state support has influenced the expansion of areas under this system. Also, the comparison with the US agricultural policy leads to the conclusion that support policies for organic production constructed on a one-dimensional focus of payments per unit area will not lead to the expected results in terms of further progress and development of the organic sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New Delivery Model, introduced by the 2023-2027 Common Agricultural Policy, shifts the focus of policy programming and design from a compliance-based approach to one based on performance. The objectives indicated in the national strategic plans are monitored through the definition of a set of milestones and targets. This makes it necessary to define realistic and financially consistent target values. The aim of this paper is to outline a methodology to quantify robust target values for result indicators. As the main method, a machine learning model based on multilayer feedforward neural networks is put forward. This method is chosen for its ability to model possible non-linearities in the monitoring data and estimate multiple outputs. The proposed methodology is applied to the Italian case, more specifically to estimate target values for the result indicator related to enhancing performance through knowledge and innovation for 21 regional managing authorities. The related performance is then compared with that of traditional methods adopted to estimate target values. Results demonstrate the superiority of neural networks and suggest that this methodology might be used as a tool to help all Member States fulfill the key task of setting coherent and realistic targets for all result indicators., Competing Interests: Declarations of interest None., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The Po plain (Italy) is one of the largest floodplains in Europe that needs environmental restoration. To achieve this goal, the knowledge of the 'environment' (water, bed sediments and vegetation) of the canals crossing such floodplain is necessary. The water flow of the canals was kept low for hydraulic safety purposes from October to March (NIR), and high for irrigation purposes from April to September (IR). Within this framework, this study aimed to assess in 9 sites of the east part of Po plain 1) the canals' environment quality in terms of vegetation diversity, and water and bed sediment physicochemical properties; and 2) how these features are influenced by canal managements and landscape properties. Water was monthly sampled both in NIR and IR periods, the bed sediments were sampled in summer and winter periods, while the vegetation was recorded in spring and autumn. The low water flow during NIR worsened the water quality by increasing the concentrations of nutrients and salts. A higher salt and nutrient concentrations were observed both in water and bed sediments of canals crossing areas with fine texture alluvial deposits than in those flowing through medium texture alluvial deposits. Further, higher nutrient and salt concentrations were observed for the canals used as collectors of the water coming from other canals. Despite the differences observed for the bed sediments and water quality, the vegetation type and biodiversity did not show differences among the study sites probably because affected by the land use of the surrounding landscape. Indeed, the canals cross agricultural land which limit the developments of natural vegetation and do not promote plant biodiversity. Overall, the present study found out the key role of landscape properties and canal managements on 'canal environment' quality which need to be considered to perform an appropriate reclamation of such environments., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The literature on the external costs of food consumption is limited. This study aims at advancing in this field by translating the environmental and health-related impacts generated by the life-cycle of meat into external costs via monetization. The main types of meat consumed in Italy are used as a case study. The potential external costs are estimated via attributional life cycle assessment (LCA), using: i) the ReCiPe method for the environmental impact assessment (fourteen impact categories), ii) the population attributional fractions for the health damage from meat ingestion, and iii) the CE Delft environmental prices for monetization. Results show that processed pork and beef generate the highest costs on society, with an external cost of approximately 2€ per 100 g. Fresh pork and poultry follow, with a cost of 1€ and 0.5€ per 100 g, respectively. For comparison, the potential external costs of legumes (i.e., a plant-based alternative to meat) are estimated to be from eight to twenty times lower than meat (around 0.05€ per 100 g of legumes). In 2018, meat consumed in Italy potentially generated a cost on society of 36.6 bn€. The burden arises almost equally from impacts generated before meat ingestion (mainly associated with the emissions arisen from farming), and after the ingestion (due to diseases potentially associated with meat consumption). A sensitivity analysis on the main parameters revealed a large uncertainty on the final yearly cost, ranging from 19 to 93 bn€. Although more research is needed to improve the accuracy and the validity of the models used in the study (e.g., human health impact assessment, monetization) and to include potential external costs currently unaccounted for (e.g., water use, animal welfare, occupational health), results show unequivocal significant costs associated with meat consumption. We thus advocate for policies aimed at reducing these costs and allocating them properly., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Within the general framework of 'lifestyle migration', the paper explores three materialities associated with the arrival and settlement of British, German and Dutch later-life migrants in the Italian region of Marche, a relatively new 'frontier' region for international retirement migration. The first is about the aesthetics of landscape and the scenic and emotional qualities of the physical and social environment. The second concerns 'home', where we examine house types, property location and home-making practices in terms of 'authenticity', material objects and the cultivation of land for productive purposes. The paper's third thematic focus is on consumption patterns. Most of the 69 participants interviewed for this study hanker after what they perceive as a simpler, more genuine way of life, in tune with the surrounding mixed-farming agricultural environment and distinct from other regions where tourism has taken hold. Many grow their own produce, including some who have small vineyards and olive groves. They enjoy shopping in local markets, eating out in inexpensive local hostelries, visiting museums and cultural festivals, and exploring the many pretty villages and historic towns of the region. The participants embody later-life migration as 'active ageing', but those who are older and/or frailer must consider, often reluctantly, the reality of a less-active and more isolated life in the Italian countryside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 52nd Conference of the Italian Society of Agricultural Economists (SIDEA), Italian agricultural economists have been given the opportunity to debate regarding internationalization, competition, and local development in agri-food systems. This special issue of the journal AFE contains four selected papers presented in this conference. These papers focus on three main issues that are strongly affecting the evolution of food supply-chains and their functioning mechanisms. These are the growing role of vertical integration between the farm sector and the downstream sectors, the possibility for farmers to increase their horizontal integration and the role of agricultural policies in affecting these phenomena. The reading of these papers allow for a better understanding of what is affecting the competitiveness of the EU agro-food system, the distribution of the bargaining power along the value-chain and, at the end, the efficiency and economic performances of the EU farm sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmland abandonment is one of the most important land use changes in the world today and crucial to the sustainable development of the global environment. The authors carried out extensive research on farmland abandonment from many perspectives, but, due to the variety of the research contents, rich research perspectives, and complex research objects, the current research in this field lacks comprehensiveness, objectivity, and systematization. In this study, the bibliometric R software packages bibliometrix and biblioshiny (K-Synth Srl, Naples, Italy) were used to analyze the development history and current situation of 896 articles on farmland abandonment in the Web of Science core collection database from 1980 to 2021, revealing their research hotspots and predicting the future development trends. Over the past 40 years, the number of published papers on abandoned farmland has continuously increased. Research mainly focused on the ecological environment, with natural succession, biodiversity, and vegetation restoration being high-frequency keywords in this field. Research on the social aspects of farmland abandonment has developed rapidly in the past 6 years. Based on these findings, this paper put forward four future research directions: the data source for the extraction of abandoned farmland should transform to high spatial-temporal resolution and hyperspectral remote sensing images; the method should pay more attention to the time series change detection and the application of the model; future research should focus on the economic costs of the reclamation of abandoned farmland and the ecological consequences of such reclamation; and the global ecological impact of vegetation succession after the abandonment of farmland should be further discussed from a broader perspective.

The article aims to analyze whether a larger diffusion of institutional–private co-operation in farming systems, such as Italian food districts (FDs), is helpful in pursuing goals of sustainable land use in agriculture. The paper focuses on the case of Lombardia in Italy, a region where this form of public–private partnership is widespread throughout the regional territory. Combining differences-in-differences (DiD) and propensity score matching (PSM) methods to reduce the estimation bias, we assessed and quantified a "district effect" on the sustainable management of lands. Specifically, using several land-use and land-use change proxies as outcome measures, we verified whether there are significant differences in such outcomes between two different groups of municipalities: those involved in FDs and those not. Our analysis shows that there is an "FD effect" on the persistence of agricultural activity and, although this does not necessarily translate into more landscape diversity, it can at least counteract detrimental tendencies such as the loss of natural elements, the loss of landscape diversity due to intensive farming, and land abandonment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of veterinary interventions has been longstanding in animal farming. The intensification of farming methods, recurrence of infectious diseases and food quality concerns have made veterinary practices and expertise even more relevant. By engaging recent literature on more‐than‐human political economy, this paper explores how veterinary interventions, through political economic and biosecurity practices, become productive economic forces in intensive animal farming and the wider agri‐food production. Empirically, the article focuses on the challenges of buffalo farming in the 'mozzarella landscape' in Southern Italy, and it draws from multi‐sited and multispecies ethnography of water buffalo farming and mozzarella cheese production in the Campania region. One of the main elements of my fieldwork is a seven‐week‐long internship on a buffalo farm where participant and direct observation has been conducted. From a theoretical perspective, the article aims to bring the concept of veterinary bioeconomy to the forefront of animal geographies and political ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has two purposes. The first is theoretical: to revise use of the concept of moral economy in migration studies, and the related concept of deservingness. I will identify different versions and meanings, showing their significant contribution to the understanding of migration issues, but discussing their lack of consideration of a particular aspect: the conflict between competing moral economies. The second and related purpose will be to apply the concept of moral economy to an analysis of the public debate on the recent measure, related to the COVID-19 pandemic, enacted to regularise unauthorised immigrants in Italy (May–August 2020). The measure, almost unique in Europe and in the Global North, has involved only workers, and workers employed in two sectors: agriculture and domestic/care services. This decision can be seen as a choice in terms of moral economy: some sectors and some immigrant workers have deserved more consideration than other workers. The empirical material is constituted by declarations and statements by social and political actors who took part in the debate, using moral-economic arguments to support their position. I will review this debate through the lens of competing moral economies and different notions of deservingness. In the conclusion I argue that in migration policies, relevant moral and political values are involved: human rights and national sovereignty, the right to mobility and citizens' rights, the right of asylum and social cohesion. I wish for a more subtle use of the concept of moral economy to feed a better discussion of these crucial topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper computes and analyses some relevant indicators of economic performance of Italian farms producing/not producing renewable energy, and compares the economic results of the two set of farms. The source of data is the European Farm Accountant Data Network; the farms belonging to this network are analysed in relation to their structural differences, type of farming, geographical areas, economic size, as well as the type of renewable energy produced. After an in-depth statistical investigation, the main economic ratios are computed and analysed using also multivariate regression models, with a special focus on the production of solar and biogas energy. In terms of land and labour productivity and fixed factor remuneration, the results show that farms producing renewable energy perform better than the other farms. This positive effect is particularly accentuated in large companies that produce biogas, followed by farms that produce solar energy. There are still many obstacles that limit the production of renewable energy in agriculture; among these, still insufficient research and information on best practices in agriculture and, in Italy, the complexity and dispersion of the institutional legislative framework and of the public support systems. However, the need to increase the production of renewable energy has become a priority for many European countries both in the short- and in the medium term, especially in light of recent events related to the war in Ukraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capacity utilization (CU) measures may show the potential for production growth under improved availability of the (variable and fixed) inputs. However, the environmental constraints should be considered when taking the production decisions. These questions are important in the context of the agricultural sector that needs to ensure food security and sustainability. This paper proposes a novel approach that integrates weak disposability technology with observation-specific abatement factors with input- and output-orientated capacity utilization measures in the short and long run. The case of European Union agricultural sector is analyzed. The results indicate that the multiple output-oriented CU measures considered in the study yield often conflicting results. Italy, Germany and France show the highest levels of the agricultural capacity utilization. At the other end of spectrum, the underdeveloped economies often showed lower values thereof. The inclusion of the energy-related GHG emission in the model generally reduced the performance gaps among the countries considered. Results of the research are important in assessing the possibilities for sustainable agricultural growth and development in the European Union as the CU levels may vary for a certain depending on the inclusion of the environmental pressures in the model., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the period 2023–2027 commits farmers towards achieving ambitious environmental objectives through farm organization and management. This European agricultural policy has adapted to the contemporary challenges faced by the new model of agricultural development. It aims to enhance the contribution of agriculture to the EU's environmental and climate objectives while providing better targeted support to small-scale farmers to promote farms' competitiveness. The main objective of this paper is to describe Italian farms and classify them into groups based on their main characteristics, as well as to analyze their performance and behavior in terms of sustainability and competitiveness. The novelty and innovativeness of this study are found in the data used; a 2020 dataset from the Italian Farm Accounting Data Network (FADN) was used. The quality of FADN data in farm sustainability assessment is widely acknowledge in the literature. To achieve the purpose of this study, a multivariate analysis, in particular, the Principal Components Analysis (PCA), and a Cluster Analysis (CA) were applied. These analyses helped us to obtain the factorial axes which then enabled us to identify economic information on farms, and a better interpretation of farmers' aptitude to undertake environmentally friendly actions. As a result, eight groups of farms were identified, and their characteristics and performance were described at Italian district level. The results of the study reflect the influence of European interventions towards encouraging farmers to use more environmentally friendly agricultural practices. Under this perspective, the findings contribute to the current debate on green architecture pursued by the future European agricultural policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaerobic digestion allows for the proper management of agro-waste, including manure. Currently, more than 18,000 anaerobic digestion plants are under operation in EU, 80% of which are employed in the rural context. Tariff schemes for power generation from biogas produced during anaerobic digestion of agricultural feedstocks in Germany, Italy and Austria are coming to an end and new approaches are needed to exploit the existing infrastructures. Digesters in the rural context can be implemented and modified to be transformed into sustainable multi-feedstock and multi-purpose biorefineries for the production of energy, nutrients, proteins, bio-chemicals such as carboxylic acids, polyesters and proteins. This paper describes how the transition of agricultural anaerobic digesters into multi-products biorefineries can be achieved and what are the potential benefits originating from the application of a pilot scale platform able to treat cow manure and other crop residues while producing volatile fatty acids, polyhydroxyalkanoates, microbial protein material, hydrogen, methane and a concentrated liquid stream rich in nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the impacts of reduction in chemical inputs use, as defined to the Farm to Fork strategy, on the Italian agricultural sector based on current production practices and technologies, as well as market and political framework. The impacts are evaluated in terms of some economic, environmental and social indicators, and are shown and discussed both geographic area and types of farming. The analysis was conducted on all Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) sample of Italian farms in various years, about 40,000 farms, by using the AGRITALIM model. The main results show an improvement in environmental sustainability of agricultural production in terms of lower use of chemical. Negative socio-economic and productive impacts are observed overall in the national territory, but some areas are more affected. The reduction of income could especially affect some types of farming and smaller farms. In conclusion, the Farm to Fork strategy could be a fundamental impetus to review some failings and weaknesses of European agriculture. Our analysis shows that targeted and forward-looking interventions are especially important for some types of farming, production sectors and territories. New research is needed to support the choices of stakeholders regarding policy support and innovation in agriculture. Political interventions are needed to incentivize farmers to adopt environmentally friendly agricultural practices and limit income losses. Genetic and technological innovations could play a fundamental role in limiting the reductions of agricultural production and modernizing farms., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

There is mounting evidence of extreme gender-discriminatory practices in the European past, resulting in excess female mortality («missing girls»). These phenomena were most persistent in Southern Europe, though they seemingly disappeared by the turn of the twentieth century. This paper documents the occurrence of gender discrimination in the allocation of resources within households in Italy, long after previously thought. It uses a collection of household budgets detailing the incomes, expenditures, and nutrition of Italian households active in agriculture during the late 1920s and 1930s. An empirical test for gender bias in the allocation of household expenditures delivers evidence of pro-boy bias among older children (around 7 to 14 years old). This result suggests that excess material deprivation of girls and women might have lingered until the eve of Italy's economic miracle, and contributes to the debate on the long-run evolution of the wellbeing of Italians, by exploring within-household inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Garfagnana region of Tuscany has witnessed a resurgence in the small-scale farming sector. Rooted in a historical practice of multifunctional agriculture, over the last decade family farmers and local institutions have increasingly focused on place-based development initiatives, such as revalorizing native livestock breeds and promoting agroecological practices, as ways to strengthen small-scale agriculture and the local rural economy. This place-based turn is now reshaping the development trajectories of many family farms and communities in Garfagnana. Drawing on qualitative field research conducted in 2015, this paper utilizes the sociological conceptual lenses of multifunctional agriculture and place-based development to analyze three casestudy farms, each with different production systems and territorial relations. Multifunctional agriculture theory is used to analyze how farming practices in the three case-studies represent a range of adaptive shifts away from productionist trends and toward a more diversified farming approach. Then place-based theory is used to demonstrate how these multifunctional agriculture practices relate to the distinct socio-ecological landscape of Garfagnana, uniquely rooting these farms in the territory. This article ultimately examines how new forms of multifunctional agriculture are fostering a place-based food and agriculture system in central Italy and how this approach can strengthen family farming and rural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we carried out an empirical productive analysis on agricultural Italian farms. In this research area, we propose a new approach of stochastic frontier analysis adopting a generalized additive model framework also compared with Stochastic semi-Nonparametric Envelopment of Z variables Data. By using the Italian National Institute of Agricultural Economics micro-data, we were able to map out the overall level of efficiency thereby focusing also on the evaluation of the differences observed due to presence of contextual variables. We obtained overall measures for the citrus sector that suggests an evaluation framework that can uphold policies to encourage and support farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Field margins are ecologically important to an agroecosystem as they are a source of biodiversity. They can be composed of a diverse flora which may offer resources to a wide range of insects and birds. The vegetation composition of field margins is determined by soil characteristics, management, and landscape structures. However, little is known about the effect of individual field margin components such as ditches, grass strips, shrubs and trees, and the overall margin's complexity, on the vegetation composition and its functional effect and response traits., Methods: This paper reports on the effects of field margin component typology (ditches, grass strips, shrubs, trees, and vehicle tracks) and complexity (the number of components), on the herbaceous vegetation of field margins. Forty field margins were sampled in 2016 in a 200 ha. organic mixed arable livestock farm., Results: The factor which was identified as having the most effect on vegetation composition was adjacent land-use type, which reflected the margins' management regime. However, field margin components were found to affect vegetation response and effect traits. Tree components had less grassweeds than vehicle tracks while more complex field margins also had less grassweeds than simple field margins near cropped fields, most likely due to the lower availability in light and less disturbance from vehicles. Simple grassy margins produced a high proportion of hymenoptera flowers., Discussion: These results highlight the importance of field margin components in maintaining a high diversity of vegetation typologies differing in effect traits that are relevant for the provisioning of ecosystem services, such as supporting pollen and nectar requirements of beneficial insects, as well as their importance in determining the presence of weed species that could potentially invade the cropped fields., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

This study investigates the topic of innovation strategies based on tradition in the wake of sustainability, in the agritourism sector, as derived from the phenomenon of multifunctionality in agriculture. The results reveal that the tangible and intangible resources that originate from tradition are drivers for innovation. The research highlights how tradition, as grounded on diverse foundations, is able to generate novel products and services stemming from an innovative arrangement of past events, particularly the identity of a place, which brings out its authenticity and makes it even more attractive. In this paper, we delve into the multifaceted outcomes that tangible and intangible traditions have on the innovation and distinctive standing of this rising accommodation offer with regard to post-productivism agriculture, and how this is accomplished while also looking for sustainability. The sourced dataset is based on a qualitative investigation of 10 cases in the Salento area of Puglia, a region of southern Italy. Tradition-grounded strategies proved to have several viable routes leading to innovation and bear positive impacts on the territory and the creation of value, yielding significant results both for scholars and practitioners.

Precision agriculture is considered to be a fundamental approach in pursuing a low-input, high-efficiency, and sustainable kind of agriculture when performing site-specific management practices. To achieve this objective, a reliable and updated description of the local status of crops is required. Remote sensing, and in particular satellite-based imagery, proved to be a valuable tool in crop mapping, monitoring, and diseases assessment. However, freely available satellite imagery with low or moderate resolutions showed some limits in specific agricultural applications, e.g., where crops are grown by rows. Indeed, in this framework, the satellite's output could be biased by intra-row covering, giving inaccurate information about crop status. This paper presents a novel satellite imagery refinement framework, based on a deep learning technique which exploits information properly derived from high resolution images acquired by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) airborne multispectral sensors. To train the convolutional neural network, only a single UAV-driven dataset is required, making the proposed approach simple and cost-effective. A vineyard in Serralunga d'Alba (Northern Italy) was chosen as a case study for validation purposes. Refined satellite-driven normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) maps, acquired in four different periods during the vine growing season, were shown to better describe crop status with respect to raw datasets by correlation analysis and ANOVA. In addition, using a K-means based classifier, 3-class vineyard vigor maps were profitably derived from the NDVI maps, which are a valuable tool for growers.

Cultivation of grapevines in sloping soils is very widespread all over the world, representing also fundamental branch of local economy of several hilly areas. Vineyards can be managed in different ways. Agronomical practices in inter-rows can be significantly different and may influence deeply the soil properties and the grapevine root development. Therefore, this paper aimed to analyze the effects of different management practices of inter-rows. We focused on the traditional agricultural techniques of tillage and permanent grass mulching as well as the alternation of these two practices between adjacent inter-rows, in terms of: i) soil physical properties; ii) soil hydrological properties; iii) root density; iv) root mechanical properties and root reinforcement; as well as v) biodiversity. The research was conducted in several test-sites of Oltrepò Pavese (Lombardy region, north-western Italy), one of the most important Italian zones for wine production in northern Italian Apennines. Among the examined soil properties, hydraulic conductivity was the most influenced soil property by different soil management practices. The absence of soil tillage allowed to increase superficial (first 0.2 m of soil) hydraulic conductivity, as a consequence of higher macroporosity and amount in organic matter. Vineyards with alternation management (grass mulching together with tillage) of inter-rows had the highest root density and the strongest root reinforcement, of up to 45% in comparison to permanent grass cover, and up to 67-73% in comparison to tilled vineyards. Soil microarthropod communities had more complexity where sustainable agricultural practices (permanent grass cover; alternation management of the inter-rows) were applied. The results of this study yielded important information to establish effective management practices of vineyards such as conserving organic matter and reducing slope instabilities by a better development of root apparatus in the soil., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Italian farms are characterized by modest plots of usable agricultural area scattered in many rural villages. The purpose of this analysis was to assess by a quantitative method technical, economic and allocative efficiency in Italian farms over the time 2004-2013 in function of different typologies of farms (TF) and their own farm productive specialization. Hence, the main question of the paper has been to estimate if the farm's specialization in cultivating crops or in breeding livestock has influenced the efficiency of Italian farms. Findings have pointed out an important impact of financial subsidies allocated by the Common Agricultural Policy on the level of technical and economic efficiency; outcomes have also emphasized as a cut in costs of some inputs such as fertilizers and crops protection is essential in increasing efficiency in Italian farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the results of a specific LCA based analysis of the production of olive oil in the region of Calabria, in southern Italy. The goal of the study is to assess the energy and environmental impacts of different scenarios involving conventional and organic cultivations, plains and hills cultivations and involving different operating techniques. The study also aims at assessing the share of each life cycle step on the total of energy and environmental impacts. The functional unit chosen for the comparative analysis is a glass bottle of 0.75 L of extra virgin olive oil. A "from cradle to gate" perspective was chosen. The analysis was developed according to the LCA standards of the ISO 14040 series. The analysis is based on a field analysis developed in the last years in the province of Reggio Calabria between more than 50 enterprises and stakeholders of the field, representative of the whole Calabria region and of most southern Italy. The data used for the development of mass and energy balances are related to the years 2013-2015. The results clarify that for all indicators that the first part of the life cycle - from the production, including the growth of the olive plant to the full production stage - is the most relevant, variable between 80.6% share in the case of the particulate matter indicator to the 99.64% in the case of land use (Hill - Biological agriculture scenario). Relevant differences can be also traced for each specific indicator among all scenarios; high impacts are traced for the agricultural stages among all scenarios (70% -90% in all indicators) with high impacts caused by fertilizers. Among the transformation stages the bottle production is one of the most relevant sources of life cycle energy uses and environmental impacts (80-90%)., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This paper aims at presenting and comparing two methodologies adopted by the Emilia-Romagna region, northern Italy, to evaluate coastal vulnerability and to produce hazard and risk maps for coastal floods, in the framework of the EU Floods Directive. The first approach was adopted before the directive had been issued. Three scenarios of damage were designed (1-, 10-, 100-year return periods), produced by the concurrent occurrence of a storm, high surge levels and high-water spring tidal levels. Wave heights were used to calculate run-up values along 187 equally spaced profiles, and these were added to the tidal and atmospheric water level contributions. The result is a list of 10 vulnerability typologies. To satisfy the requirements of the directive, the Geological, Seismic and Soil Service (SGSS) recently implemented a different methodology that considers three scenarios (10-, 100- and >100-year return periods) in terms of wave setup (not including run-up) plus the contribution of surge levels as well as the occurrence of high-water springs. The flooded area extension is determined by a series of computations that are part of a model built into ArcGIS®. The model uses as input a high-resolution lidar DEM that is then processed using a least-path cost analysis. Inundation maps are then overlapped with land use maps to produce risk maps. The qualitative validation and the comparison between the two methods are also presented, showing a positive agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural heritage systems are receiving increasing attention due to their multifunctional role, their capability to provide ecosystem services, and for representing sustainable development models for rural areas. At the international level, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations launched in 2002 the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Program to identify and safeguard traditional agro-silvo-pastoral systems that are the result of the adaptation of rural communities to the surrounding environments. Following this approach, similar national programs have been developed, among which the Italian National Register of Historical Rural Landscapes and the China Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (China-NIAHS) initiative stand out. This research compares the China-NIAHS initiative and the Italian Register of Historical Rural Landscapes, highlighting similarities and differences and identifying strengths and weaknesses, to contribute to the development of proper tools for the conservation and valorization of agricultural heritage systems. Both initiatives were established in 2012 and share similar aims and inscription criteria, including historical and current significance, knowledge system and social structure, economic and productive framework, and causes of vulnerability. The main differences are related to the delimitation of the boundaries of the proposed sites and to the inscription process; in addition, while for the Italian National Register spatial analyses of land-use changes and landscape structure are mandatory according to a precise methodology, for the China-NIAHS no specific landscape analyses are required. The main critical issues are the lack of public participation and the lack of a monitoring plan after the inscription. The absence of monitoring is also the main vulnerability of the FAO GIAHS Programme. This research can offer important information for different stakeholders at the international, national, and local levels dealing with agricultural heritage conservation and valorization. In particular, it highlights the need of developing a multidisciplinary monitoring system with a standard methodology based on different indicators that can contribute to maximizing the impact of these initiatives. This research also provides useful information for the countries that are interested in developing a national initiative for agricultural heritage systems' identification and valorization/conservation or for countries that intend to improve their national programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents multi-sensor applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) on three different cases of study, belonging to the wide category of Cultural Heritage (CH). The contribution aims to examine the efficacy of different methodological approach of surveys made in VIS and TIR range with aerial platforms. The use of UAV on two archaeological areas, Çatalhöyük site (Konya, Turkey) and the Medicean Villa of Pratolino (Florence, Italy) and an application of precision agriculture in Lamole (Greve in Chianti, Italy) will be presented. In particular, the analysis will focus on the accuracy of the obtained data, in terms of both metric and image quality, the possible information to extract from the IR imaging, the relationship between costs and benefits and the total amount of information that can be gained. The two different fields of research (archaeological and agricultural one) show that there are some similarities in the approaches and which could be the improving to obtain using the aerial survey in the visual and IR bands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domestication of wild cattle, sheep, and pigs began a process of body size diminution. In most of Western Europe this process continued across prehistory and was not reversed until the Roman period. However, in Italy, an increase in livestock body size occurred during the Iron Age, earlier than the Western provinces. In order to better understand the nature and timing of this early increase in animal size, this paper presents a detailed regional study of taxonomic abundance and biometric data from zooarchaeological assemblages recovered from the Po and Venetian–Friulian Plains in northern Italy. Our results demonstrate a high level of regionality in the choice of species exploited, with husbandry systems focused on different domesticates, as well as regional differences in animal size. However, despite significant variation in species frequencies, settlement structure, and epigraphic tradition, all areas with sufficient data demonstrate similar significant changes in livestock body size. Cattle and sheep increased incrementally in size prior to the Roman conquest in all regions considered; surprisingly, pigs continued to decrease in size throughout later prehistory. The incremental pace and pan-regional character of the size change in cattle and sheep suggests an internally motivated phenomenon rather than herd replacement with a new larger population, as might follow colonisation or conquest. The divergence in size trends for bovids and suids suggests a noteworthy change in cattle and sheep herding practices during the Iron Age or final centuries of the Bronze Age, in contrast with greater continuity in pig management. Our analysis provides a thorough zooarchaeological synthesis for northern Italy and, for the first time, demonstrates that both cattle and sheep increased in size outside of Roman territory well before the conquest of this area. This study offers a basis for future chemical analyses (DNA, isotopes), which will further investigate the cause(s) of livestock size changes in northern Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper present the results of archaeobotanical analysis carried out at two open-air sites dated to the first phase of the Copper Age, “Chalcolithic” (4th to 3rd millennium cal BC) in Sardinia. The sediment was systematically floated, a total of 3142 l was sampled and 4014 charred plant remains were identified. Chalcolithic agriculture in Sardinia was primarily based on the cultivation of Hordeum vulgare, H. vulgare var. nudum and Triticum aestivum/durum. Possible cultivated legumes of Vicia/Lathyrus, Vicia/Pisum and cf. Pisum sativum were identified. Linum sp. was also present, which may have been cultivated and exploited in Sardinia by the Chalcolithic community. The diet of the Chalcolithic community was complemented by the consumption of edible fruits such as Ficus carica, Sambucus sp. and Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris. Typical Mediterranean shrubs such as Pistacia lentiscus, Juniperus sp., Cistus sp., Malva sp. and Thymelaea hirsuta were also found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agro-food is one of the main manufacturing industries in Italy. It accounts for more than 2 million firms, making up 9% of the Gross Domestic Products (GDP). However, Italian agro-food industry has several weak points such as small dimension of firms, county's dependence on agricultural products realized abroad and weak innovative activities. Based on these assumptions, this paper offers a geographical analysis of Italian agro-food system of innovation aimed to evidence actions that firms and policy-makers have to realize. Specifically the paper evidences that firms have to invest in internationalization and innovation and policy-makers have to support them in several ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effectiveness of Agri-Environmental Schemes (AESs) as tools to enhance the rural environment can be achieved not only by increasing uptake rates, but also by avoiding participating farmers abandoning the scheme once they are in. For this reason, it is important to also consider what affects farmers’ decisions to remain in the scheme rather than leave it at the end of the contractual obligation. However, up to now, there has been very little on this issue in the literature. The paper offers a contribution to this by revealing the role of determinants like the farmer’s and farm structural characteristics, farmer’s learning process, neighbourhood effect and the impact of changes in the policy design on the farmer’s decision to remain in the scheme over a long time scale. This is examined in a long-standing scheme in the case study area, the Veneto Region of Italy. The paper uses duration analysis and is based on longitudinal panel-data of the entire population of 2000–2015 adopters. By using only data available in official regional records, it also provides regional policy-makers with an operational tool that is useful to analyse the impact of their AES design changes. The results of the duration models show that a larger farm size, a younger farmer age, the succession in the family farm, and the farmer’s positive attitude towards the environment, trigger longer durations in AES. Similarly, the impact of the accumulation of the farmer’s experience in the scheme management, as well as the neighbourhood effect increase the probability of remaining. Lastly, the changes in policy tailoring and targeting also have a positive impact on maintaining the farmer in the scheme. The paper concludes by noting that duration analysis can deliver useful results in order to guide policy-makers in the effort to steer higher levels of farmers’ persistence in the scheme and provides some recommendations for a more mature agro-environmental policy design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variety of public policies and private strategies have been implemented to stimulate farmers to implement nature conservation measures. Examples include publicly funded agri-environment schemes (AES) but also eco-labels and Alternative Food Networks; strategies that have been implemented in response to the continuous decline in species abundance and diversity due to agricultural intensification and scale enlargement. Whereas AES as a distinct governance strategy has been evaluated in detail, less is known about other strategies. In this paper, we assess the relative importance of the variety of public and private strategies aimed at enhancing species abundance and diversity in Italian olive farming through a reduction in agrochemical use. In a survey of olive farmers in the region of Tuscany, we found that although farmers are exposed to a variety of public and private strategies, personal motives to reduce agrochemical use are most important. Moreover, having a Corporate Social Responsibility plan or engaging in direct sales to consumers are the only strategies that are related to a reduction in agrochemical use. These findings suggest self-governance is a powerful strategy for enhancing species diversity and abundance in agricultural landscapes. Yet it also means contributing to nature conservation and restoration is a voluntary act. Olive farmers who do not voluntarily contribute to nature conservation by reducing agrochemicals need to be incentivized by show-casing farmers who did reduce their agrochemical use, by critical consumers or by stricter rules in AES or in generic agri-environmental legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to detect stylized facts and put forward testable hypotheses on the presence and role of immigrant workforce in Italian agriculture. This research focuses on professional agriculture as represented by the Italian FADN over the period 2008-2015. Descriptive statistics show that immigrants are an important component of the workforce employed in professional agriculture over this period, even with wide disparities between regions, sectors and classes of economic size. Immigrants are concentrated in larger and more productive farms and their presence is positively correlated with farm's labour productivity (LP). To understand whether they are more productive, or they are just occupied by more productive farms, the relationship between LP and their contribution to agricultural production, in terms of Annual Working Units (AWU), is modelled at the farm level, by assuming alternative model specifications. Results emphasize that, in many cases, statistically significant relationships between the contribution of immigrants and farm-level LP can result from model misspecifications. Accounting for farms' heterogeneity can greatly influence the dimension of this link. Moreover, when assuming persistence of LP with a dynamic specification, this relationship disappears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study represents the first investigation of soil ciliate diversity and community structure in the Marche region, Italy, encompassing both natural sites and agro-ecosystems. The main aims were (i) to assess the ability of ciliates to discriminate between different types of land uses, i.e., arable lands and possible farming management practices [organic (ORG) vs. conventional (CON)], and forest (FOR) sites; and (ii) to investigate the relationships among ciliate communities and abiotic parameters at the studied sites. Soil samples were collected twice from 10 sites (5 forest (FOR) (natural soils) and 5 arable lands under different agricultural management systems (3 ORG (minimum tillage) and 2 CON (sod seeding)). Ciliate communities were studied using qualitative (non-flooded Petri dish) and quantitative methods (ciliate counts from permanent slides). Soil chemical–physical (texture, CEC, N, OM, C/N) parameters were also measured. Qualitative ciliate analysis allowed us to identify a total of 59 species representing 33 genera, 20 families, 13 orders, and 7 classes. ORG sites were the richest in species followed by CON and FOR. Multivariate analysis showed statistically significant differences between natural sites (FOR) and agricultural sites, and between ORG and CON management farming systems. CCA analysis revealed a positive correlation between the ciliate species and silt, clay, and pH in ORG sites, and sand, organic carbon, organic matter, total nitrogen, C/N ratio, and CEC (cation exchange capacity) in FOR sites, suggesting the significance of these parameters in shaping the ciliate communities. Altogether, these results showed the bioindicative potential of ciliate communities in discriminating between natural sites (FOR) and arable lands, and their capacity to discriminate, at least preliminarily, between different soil management systems (ORG vs. CON). Furthermore, this study highlights the high diversity of soil ciliates and their response to habitat variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kindergarten farms are educational initiatives aiming to reinforce or even create relationships between nature and future generations involving them in agricultural settings. They take the form of Outdoor Education (OE), intending to enhance the outdoor environment in its various configurations, from an educational perspective. From the agricultural side, these activities are included in social farming (SF), represents a union between the educative sphere and the agriculture world and offering added farm revenue with a multifunctional view. In Italy, these educational services within the farms ('Agrinidi' and 'Agriasili') have grown recently, contributing to the educational system where services are marginally available or lacking. This study has focused on the families' needs concerning early childhood services in support of work–life balance; it also investigated their attitudes and interest in OE and in a structured educational service within a farm. To achieve such an aim, a literature study about OE and the educational initiatives within the farm in Italy was carried out. This was followed by an online questionnaire, carried out with 510 resident of a region of Italy (Umbria). The findings indicate high interest in educational services organized in both nature and farms. The statistical and econometric analysis of a subsample of 161 respondents having children under 6 years old has underlined that the attitudes towards OE are affected by specific socio-demographic variables: income and educational levels. In this respect, older participants having a high degree of education and benefiting from a high economic status showed the highest level of preference for OE services. In the conclusions, we underline that developing educational services "Agriasili" and "Agrinidi" can contribute to strengthening the synergy between agriculture and the education sector. They carry out social functions for the creation of collective well-being. They represent a diversification of farm business and a response to citizens' needs for early childhood education in nature; moreover, they push implementation of policies encouraging the birth of these services in rural and peri-urban areas where they are lacking or crowded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil is now a central issue on the European as well as the national political agenda, as it represents a fundamental ecosystem for human survival on the planet. Today, more than ever, its protection and proper use in various contexts (agricultural, natural, urban) require stringent policies that can be implemented immediately. The difficult reversibility of urban transformations is the main threat to the ecosystem integrity of soil. Starting from this statement, the main objective of the proposed work is to analyze how the main European countries (Italy, France, Germany, and Spain) are addressing the issue of the goal of zero net land take by 2050 by examining the current laws and strategies. The results highlight how the regulatory aspect plays a key role in managing the phenomenon and how the absence of a national framework law can generate strong distortions and different interpretations of the soil ecosystem. The analysis of the Nature Restoration Law, adopted by the European Commission in July 2023, enables us to assess whether the regulations and measures adopted by the major European countries align with the European Union's trends. Through a comparative perspective, the study aims to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of sustainable development practices and provide valuable insights for policymakers, urban planners, and academics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concentrations of chemicals in the groundwater chemical values in the Piedmont Po Plain (NW Italy) show significant temporal variability and need to be characterised due to the lack of regional-scale assessments. The aim of this study was to analyse the trends (period 2000–2020) in the main physicochemical parameters and main ions in 227 wells in the shallow aquifer and to identify the potential causes. The identification of change points (points of sudden change) and comparisons with groundwater level variations were also performed. Results highlight general increasing trends for Na, Cl and HCO3, decreasing trends for SO4 and NO3, stationary conditions for pH and heterogeneous behaviours for electrolytic conductivity, Ca and Mg. Change points occurred in at least 50% of the monitoring wells, mainly during the 2008–2011 period. The comparison between groundwater levels and chemistry highlights a direct proportionality. Superimposed processes that induce an absence of proportionality are shown. The comparison of results with those of previous studies conducted under similar conditions revealed similar variations.. In conclusion, the potential responsible factors (e.g., road-salt dissolution and agricultural practices) and the relevant role of groundwater level variation were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The simplification of agricultural landscapes that has occurred in recent decades has led to a consequent decline in biodiversity. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of cultivated and semi-natural areas to sustain the beta diversity of nocturnal Lepidoptera. A dataset available for an organic century-old olive farm was analysed. Sampling was carried out from July 2018 to June 2019 within eight sites. The beta diversity was explored using the Bray–Curtis quantitative similarity index. To assess the main process driving community composition, two measures of nestedness were calculated. The analyses showed that most species were more abundant in semi-natural sites, although some species were found to be barycentric or exclusive to the olive groves. The nestedness at farm and site scales confirmed that the main process driving the composition of the moth community was species impoverishment, but this process was not found to be significant when comparisons involved herbaceous semi-natural habitats and cultivated sites. We found out that the contribution of olive groves to the farm beta diversity was small but non-negligible. To improve the sustainable management of an olive grove, it is preferable to promote the presence of tree-covered areas since semi-natural herbaceous cover can be represented within the farm by low-input olive groves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last ten years have witnessed an increase in publications focusing on bioeconomy as a proposal to confront the global challenges of climate change, depletion of non-renewable resources and ecosystem degradation. This paper investigates the scientific literature on issues related agricultural bioeconomy by applying a bibliometric network analysis. Bibliometric analysis is applied to the publications of the Scopus database during the period 2010–2020 in order to provide an overview of the main aspects that characterize agricultural bioeconomy. The results showed that out of a total of 1100 scientific papers, only 2.45% were published in 2010, while the corresponding share in 2020 was 20.81%. In the five years of 2016–2020, cumulatively, 70.63% of the publications were made, showing the dynamic evolution of bioeconomy. In addition, out of 85 countries in total, Germany and Italy are the two countries with most publications, while the fragmentation of research is evident with the creation of two main nodes, the European and the American. Moreover, keyword analysis showed that biomass and sustainability are two main recurring concepts, confirming that, currently, bioeconomy operates at three different levels: energy demand, land demand, and governance. It is apparent that to boost the development of agricultural bioeconomy, the following aspects should be assessed: the effective use of resources, an understanding of the key drivers of agricultural bioeconomy, and a clear perception of their associations. There is still no consensus as to which are the key factors that will accelerate its sustainable development. Our pursuit is to use the tools of bibliometric analysis to reach more critical conclusions regarding the agricultural bioeconomy, rather than approach it in a static way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immigrants in rural areas and immigrant employment in the agricultural sector have been studied from a variety of perspectives. However, we currently lack a bird's-eye view of these two phenomena covering all EU member states through time. This paper tackles that gap, first by describing the main features of immigrant settlement and economic integration in rural areas in the EU. Second, it offers an EU-wide overview of immigrants' integration in the agricultural sector. Then, it investigates empirically the degree to which the different characteristics of agricultural production in two member states – Italy and Spain – are associated with a migrant presence in the area. The study finds that, in the context of a shrinking agricultural labour force, the share of migrant workers in that sector in several regions is increasing over time. Migrants living in rural areas are more likely to be unemployed and face economic hardship than locals. Migrants employed in agriculture are, also, more likely to work in elementary occupations and temporary jobs. Finally, the case studies on Italy and Spain demonstrate that the relative size of the migrant population is related to the typology of agricultural land use and to the labour intensity and seasonality of cultivation. • Immigrants in rural areas tend to fare worse compared to the local population and to migrants living in cities and towns. • In the agricultural sector, migrant workers have steadily increased their share of total employment over time. • Migrants are more likely to work in elementary occupations, to be employees, and to have temporary forms of recruitment than locals. • In Italy and Spain migrants in rural areas tend settle where intensive agricultural production, a high degree of temporary employment prevails. • Quantitative analyses based on official stastistics face challenges in terms of under-representing the real number of migrants in agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]