Partners
• Centro Regionale di Sperimentazione e Assistenza Agricola (CeRSAA), Albenga (SV), Italy
• Dipartimento di Economia e Sistemi Arborei, University of Sassari, Italy
• Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, University of Pisa, Italy
• Génetique et Ecofisiologie de la Qualité des Agrumes - INRA UR 1103, Antibes, France
• "Le Giaire" farm, Calizzano (SV), Italy
• Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, University of Genova, Italy
• Celle Ligure municipality (SV), Italy
• Hybrida s.r.l., Arma di Taggia (IM), Italy

Funding body
European Union.

Objectives
The project aims at developing niche sectors of the rural and food industry in the Northern part of the Mediterranean basin through a multifunctional valorisation of spontaneous Mediterranean plants and through the improvement of the productive chain which connects the producer and the consumer passing by the processing, the promotion and the commercialization of selected products.

Materials and methods
The activities foreseen by the project are:
- Domestication, location and valorisation of plant species, selections and ecotypes new or already present on the territory (e.g. aromatic and Mediterranean plants);
- Study and set up of strategies aiming at characterizing and promoting already cultivated species (e.g. citrus fruit, basil, myrtle and some herbs such as rosemary, thyme and sage which can be used for ornamental purposes) which could well represent the territory of the different regions involved;
- The reduction of energetic inputs (water, fertilizers, pesticides) thanks to the adoption and the cultivation of low-demanding plant species and selections;
- Evaluation of the effects of cultivation techniques and environmental conditions on the synthesis of aromatic compounds;
- Valorisation of the products through dedicated chains for the exploitation of their main valuable characteristics from an agricultural and industrial point of view and their final commercialization.
- The involvement of institutions responsible for the promotion and the valorisation of the agricultural products and, subsequently, for their processing will be taken highly in consideration.
- The communication and dissemination phase is up to farm houses, teaching farms and pharmacies qualified for selling the different products.

Main outcomes
• Valorisation of minor crops and niche products through the characterization of best production techniques and improvement of quality and health profiles;
• Exploitation of plant species normally cultivated in the Mediterranean basin for ornamental and food purposes and as sources of natural compounds potentially active as drugs and/or pesticides alternative to chemicals;
• Fostering of economic development through the exploitation of niche products still not properly valorised;
• Breeding of local selected plant species for the improvement of desired characters from an ornamental and extractive point of view;
• Fostering of local entrepreneurship.

Esiti espletamento procedura per l'affidamento dell'incarico di controllore di primo livello - progetto pyrgi (pdf file - 225 kb - in Italian)

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