Interview with Claudio Cantini. Researcher at the Istituto per la Valorizzazione del Legno e delle Specie Arboree, partner of the LIFE Resilience project.
How did CNR-IBE work on the Life Resilience project and what did it contribute to the project?
CNR was in charge of the partnership, the implementation of the agronomic tests and the dissemination of the project in Italy. In particular, it had the specific task of studying the population dynamics of the largest Xylella insect vector Philaenus spumarius known as spittoon. During the project we studied the presence in olive groves of the insect, how it moved during the season between the grasses covering the ground of olive groves, olive trees and outdoor areas. We have verified the appropriate methodologies to measure the number of insects present in the olive groves both with direct captures and with coloured sticky traps and studied whether other insects or spiders could interfere with the spittlebug by preying on the nymphs. We have also tested how to reduce the presence of the insect in olive groves using both mechanical processes, aimed at eliminating the weeds that host the insect during the first stages of life, and products of natural origin aimed at killing adults. The results of our work have been presented at international congresses on Xylella and disseminated through technical meetings organised with producer associations.
How was your collaboration with the other partners?
We had a continuous liaison with the Italian company SALOV who organised the agronomic trials in their olive groves. Numerous meetings were held with the technicians who follow the olive groves in the Pisa area in order to better verify the application of the techniques identified for both plant and soil management. Of course, we have worked better with all the other international project partners to select the seeds to be used for ground cover, to use satellite data, to treat the plants and soil with products that can increase the well-being of the olive trees, to identify the best communication techniques and to keep under control the overall management of such a long and complex project. The CNR has supported the other partners in the development of soil biodiversity monitoring techniques and has supported the dissemination of the project by participating, among other things, in the scientific committee of the third European conference on Xyella that took place in April 2021.
What were the main difficulties you faced during the project?
The project took place during the COVID pandemic and, although agriculture and research in Italy have never stopped completely, even during the confinement, the events have mainly affected the dissemination and exchange of information in the presence of the project. Other difficulties have been related to the ongoing climate change that has greatly affected seasonal trends and olive production in Italy in both 2020 and 2021. Late spring frosts and prolonged periods of summer drought have strongly affected the productivity of olive trees making it difficult to analyse the real impact of the agronomic techniques used. Another difficulty we have encountered is to create a network of companies to operate the transfer because Italian olive growing, unlike, for example, Spanish olive growing, is made up of small or very small companies led by farmers who are not inclined to transformations and innovations. Italian olive groves are very fragmented and do not lend themselves well to interventions mediated by information from satellite images that have a minimum resolution of 10 x 10 m of the studied soil units.
What innovative tools and methodologies have been applied in this project?
The NRC used the LIFE project to use several innovative tools in collaboration with SALOV at the Pisa-based company. Coloured traps were tested for spittlebug trapping, images of foliage measured with LIDAR placed on a drone were used to verify plant growth in the different fields where the experiments were carried out, automatic traps were introduced to verify the presence of the olive fruit fly, satellite images were used to map the vegetative conditions of olive trees and identify areas with different needs. agronomic needs. Several precision farming techniques have been applied to improve the agronomic management of olive groves and natural chemicals never before tested in olive cultivation have been tested for the control of insect vectors.
To what extent have you achieved the objectives designed for the project in relation to Xylella?
The aim of the project was to use various techniques to provide greater resilience to the olive trees and the «olive grove» environment as a whole. From this point of view we have increased the biodiversity present in the enterprise both in terms of herbaceous plants, arthropods and micro-organisms in the soil. We have improved the level of macro and microelements in olive trees and above all the level of technical and management knowledge of the collaborating company. Finally, we planted the olive trees, produced by crossbreeding by the University of Cordoba, which could bring resistance traits to Xiella. We have identified techniques to monitor the spurge populations and improve the era to carry out agronomic interventions. It is not easy to quantify the overall result of the actions because fortunately Xyella has not reached the areas affected by the project but nevertheless they have brought different information at international and national level through our reports and publications and more information will come in the next two to three years after the deadline.
What was your best practice model based on and what deliverables were achieved?
The model was based on a modification of land cover management with the planting of grass mixtures in order to increase biodiversity and decrease the presence of species that favoured the presence of the insect vector; treatments with fortifying products to olive trees and with micro-organism based products in the soil, modification of agronomic management and use of satellite imagery for better mapping of olive groves. In the pilot company the management system has changed radically: the use of chemical herbicides in the row has been completely eliminated and replaced by programmed mowing of the herbaceous cover, increased grazing of the irrigation ditches to favour bird nesting, adoption of agricultural machinery equipped with GPS to control the distribution of fertilisers in relation to plant growth. Finally, the company intends to adopt satellite control even after the end of the project to further improve precision farming techniques. In terms of irrigation use, a more rational system of calculating water needs has been introduced by modifying the irrigation schedule and the volumes distributed. As for a company located on the Tuscan coast, water consumption has been reduced by about 60%, which before the project was used in a totally incorrect way both in terms of volumes and time.
Finally, in this regard, what was the result of the application of these good practice models in the network of replica farms that the project has in Italy?
The transmission of information in the agricultural field is slower than in other economic areas from this point of view, so we expect the information to come out of the network especially at the end of the project. The companies participating in the network, on the other hand, did not all use the various techniques and methodologies, as each of them preferred to adopt the innovations that were easier to insert into the programming. The most common practice has been to monitor the juvenile stages of the spittlebug and to remove the herbaceous cover earlier than is normally done in order to intervene before the adult forms of the spittlebug develop. The importance of mapping the vegetative stage of olive groves and the application of differentiated product distribution systems on the soil and on the foliage of olive trees was perceived.