SODOSOST PROJECT PRESENTATION CONFERENCE
On November 24, 2021, at 4:00 PM, on the Zoom platform (here is the link to register for the event: [link]), there will be a presentation conference of the SODOSOST project funded under the PSR Puglia 2014-2020 - SM 16.2 "Support for pilot projects and the development of new products, practices, processes, and technologies", for an amount of € 460,700.00.
The project aims to contribute to a wider adoption of conservation agriculture practices (direct seeding) for durum wheat in the regional territory, improving the economic, environmental sustainability, and food security of production through innovative technical means and cultural techniques, optimizing the use of eco-sustainable strategies during field and post-harvest phases.
This commitment will be carried out by the entire project's GO (Operational Group), which will be particularly involved in characterizing the technological, nutritional, and health quality of durum wheat, improving the efficiency of N and P nutrient use (NUE, PUE) through the use of biofertilizers to reduce the use of fertilizers, and identifying and implementing innovative sustainable defense practices through the experimentation and validation of alternative and sustainable fungicidal action formulations.
Background: Apulia is the main Italian reality in cereal cultivation with 411,575 hectares dedicated. Production, amounting to about 1.5 million tons, is particularly focused on durum wheat, oats, and other minor cereals (ISTAT). In the context of Apulian cereal farming, the area under direct seeding has increased in recent years and is further destined to increase due to the incentive measures provided by the Rural Development Plan 2014 - 2020 towards conservation agriculture and, in particular, towards the adoption of non-tillage practices. These practices present significant advantages mainly due to a pronounced reduction in soil surface erosion and direct tillage costs, as well as greater soil water retention capacity. While this technique offers undisputed environmental and economic advantages, according to the discussions held among the GO members and the relevant literature, there are some challenges to overcome to facilitate its dissemination. The main ones are:
Disease control and weed management, which incur high production costs due to the necessary and recurrent use of herbicides and fungicides; Lower efficiency in the use of phosphorus and nitrogen; Protection of cereals from insect attacks during storage. Additionally, while direct seeding ensures good production standards, slightly lower qualitative performance is observed. Therefore, the SODOSOST project envisages the implementation of a series of activities aimed at developing and transferring innovative techniques capable of overcoming the challenges highlighted in the previous paragraphs.
The project partners constitute an Operational Group of the PEI AGRI, a cooperation model based on the "interactive innovation model" involving collaboration among various actors to make the best use of complementary types of knowledge, whose main objective is the co-creation and dissemination of solutions/opportunities ready to be implemented in practice.
The SODOSOST GO is composed of important stakeholders such as: CO.R.SU.D. - RURAL COOPERATIVE SUBAPPENNINO DAUNO - AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE SOCIETY, UNIVERSITY OF FOGGIA, REGIONAL AGRO-FOOD DISTRICT SOC. CONS. A R.L., CAMPANELLA GERARDO, ITALIAN FARMERS CONFEDERATION PUGLIA, and consulting firms that have been promoting and evaluating innovations in the agri-food sector for years (Aretè Srl and Cassandro Srl);
During this initial event, the project's objectives and initial results will be presented.
