Support for the conservation, use and sustainable development of genetic resources in agriculture
PSR 2014-2022 Misura 10.02
Goals
Collect, preserve and enhance some cut flower species typical of the far west of Liguria.
Application no.
2015.07.62361.6241
Project duration
01/02/2023 - 31/01/2025
The project
Florcoop Sanremo, CREA and C.I.P.A.T have presented a project, recently approved by the Liguria Region, with the aim of collecting, conserving and enhancing some cut flower species typical of the far western Liguria region. The birth of Sanremo floriculture dates back to the end of the nineteenth century with the production of cut wild flowers and some green fronds. Subsequently, during the twentieth century, the botanical knowledge of the pioneers Ludovico Winter first and then Mario Calvino, combined with their intuitions on favorable climatic conditions, made it possible to introduce new species and obtain an important floricultural production, especially in winter. Subsequently, thanks to the development of rail transport, the Ligurian flower-growing district gradually established dense commercial relations with foreign countries, mainly with Northern European countries. Precisely during the 20th century, the floricultural production of this district became so significant as to determine changes in the toponymy of the localities: Sanremo became known as "the city of flowers" and the Imperia coast as "the Riviera of flowers".
The flower crops historically introduced, developed and improved by Ligurian flower growers have contributed to identifying a production area such as Western Liguria as their own, characterizing its landscape aspect and the productive, economic and social fabric of the entire district. This link with local production was supported by the fact that the propagation, both gamistic and agamic, of the cultivation material has always been carried out by individual flower growers and was aimed at selecting a product with better ornamental characteristics such as the size and color of the flowers , and commercials such as post-harvest duration and flowering time to meet product demands in certain periods.
- Seminar of 14/12/2023: Areport by Antonio Ferrante (Università degli Studi di Milano), report by Andrea Copetta (CREA Sanremo)
- SOI Torino 2023: manifesto sul progetto, pubblicazione Acta Italus Hortus
- Report by Dr. Copetta (Crea Sanremo) at the seminar at Villa Ormond held on April 23, 2024
– June 19-21, 2024, Padua – 2nd National Conference on Horticulture and Floriculture. Physiological and morphological characteristics of white broom varieties from Western Liguria. Volpi J., Cavallo C., Restuccia P., Vinci G., Pamato M., Savona M., Copetta A. Poster and abstract in conference proceedings. Ortofloro poster by Matteo Gualandris, Carla Colombani, Pasquale Restuccia, Gianluca Vinci, Giacomo Cocetta, Antonio Ferrante.
- Presentations by Dr. Andrea Copetta (Crea Sanremo) and Prof. Antonio Ferrante (University of Milan) during the seminar held in Taggia at the Florcoop headquarters on July 26, 2024.
– Colture Protette n. October 2024: Papavero da fiore: fabbisogno nutrizionali ed eco-fisiologia
– October 14-17, 2024 Viterbo – V Convegno Nazionale sulla Micropropagazione – VITROSOI 2024. “Propagazione in vitro di Retama monosperma (L) Boiss.” Volpi J, Cavallo C, Restuccia P, Vinci G, Pamato M, Savona M, Copetta A. Poster e abstract in atti del convegno
– December 9-10, 2024 Pescia – “Conservazione e micropropagazione di Papaver nudicaule.” Volpi J, Cavallo C, Restuccia P, Vinci G, Pamato M, Savona M, Copetta A. Poster.
- Presentations by Dr. Andrea Copetta (Crea Sanremo) and Professor Antonio Ferrante (University of Milan) during the final conference held in Taggia at the Florcoop headquarters on December 18, 2024.
CONVAFLOR project summary brochure.
Identification sheet for the List of Traditional Products of the LIGURIA REGION (art.8 Legislative Decree 173/98): Viburnum opulus 'Palla di Neve', Papaver nudicaule, Retama monosperma
The Cultivated Species
Among the species still cultivated in Western Liguria today, there are three crops that are historically linked to the territory and which at the same time require an action to conserve and enhance their plant material: the poppy, the broom and the viburnum snowball.
The poppy was introduced as a cut flower crop starting from the early 1980s. Since then, every single company has annually made its own combinations and crosses in order to obtain larger and more robust flowers, also attempting to obtain separate color varieties to meet market demands. Part of this selection activity but above all multiplication is also done by local nurseries that source seeds.
The cultivation of broom has developed since the first decades of the last century. During the continuous propagation of the original material, we tried to select varieties that retained some peculiarities: a compact flowering frond, flowers of uniform size and a specific flowering period that would allow the different varieties to offer flowering fronds to the market from November to April. With the spread of this crop mainly in the coastal area, on the typical terraces overlooking the sea, the broom has now become an integral part of the territory, an essence that characterizes the Ligurian landscape.
The snowball viburnum appeared in the early 90s when the cultivation of fronds began to spread, as an alternative to other flowering fronds such as gypsophila and broom, mainly and, then, to have a product that could cover a longer supply period extended. The demand for viburnum in the months in which it was unavailable in local production was met by Dutch production which had already developed protocols for anticipating and postponing the flowering of viburnum with respect to its natural cycle.
The general objective is the conservation of the genetic material of some species and/or local varieties cultivated for years in this floricultural district, in order to avoid the loss of current genetic material or, even worse, the possible progressive extinction. The local varieties of these species have over time established a strong link with the Ligurian floricultural district, thanks to which both for pedoclimatic characteristics and for commercial needs they have now become part of the native flora of the area. For the different species the following will be determined: 1) The nutritional needs and their eco-physiological responses in the different growth conditions in order to evaluate their agronomic performances. 2) The effect of treatments with lignification promoters and anti-ethylenes to improve the quality of production and post-harvest performance.
More specifically and with particular reference to the three species identified, plant material will be found in nature from producers in the Province of Imperia, followed by characterization and maintenance in the dedicated in vivo collection field, propagation deemed most suitable depending on the species, evaluations agronomic and analysis of eco-physiological responses in different growing conditions including possible treatments to improve post-harvest shelf life.
At the end of the project, crop sheets will be prepared for the characterization of plant genetic resources and dossiers for registration in the National Registry of biodiversity of agricultural and food interest.
