Desarrollo de la entrevista

MASSIMO TANCA1,PAOLA TAVIANI2,RICCARDO BOCCI3,RICCARDO FRANCIOLINI4,MARIATERESA CONSTANZA5 1 _ARSIAL

2 _ARSIAL

3 _{Rural Seed Network} 4 _{Rural Seed Network} 5 _ARSIAL

Key words: garlic, lentil, landraces, participatory, social capital, local and traditional knowledge, Lazio Region Summary

The Regional Agency for Development and Innovation of Agriculture in Lazio (ARSIAL), pursuant to Regional Law no. 15/2000 “Protection of indigenous genetic resources of agricultural interest”, manages the Network for Conservation and Safety” by sponsoring in situ/on farm conservation of local varieties and breeds from Lazio. ARSIAL and the Rural Seed Network propose local actions to encourage collective approaches that, starting with the dynamic conservation of crop diversity, foster exchanges of knowledge among peers as an agricultural training tool, organizing meetings between growers of local varieties of the same species.

Background

The globalization of the international economy, the post-Fordist inter-organizational models and the knowledge society as an intangible development resource, have repercussions at the level of local governance and management innovation.

Innovation is changing from a linear top-down use of science and technology, through new forms of collaborative action in social-interactive innovation that actively involves stakeholders such as designers, developers and users of innovation that draw on its benefits.

The new programming for the EU structural funds (ESF, ERDF, EAFRD), involving rural areas, through the Lisbon strategy, “Europe 2020”, the new CAP and Horizon 2020, acts as an interface between the world of Rural development and research. It is based on an interactive innovation model of the bottom-up type.

This approach is evident in the establishment of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) “Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability”. The goal is to promote innovative investments capable of producing immediately applicable results on the farms, based on the actual needs of farmers, especially with regard to agro-biodiversity, which would offer huge potential for development if it were to be used.

The “participatory” method (Community Led Local Development, CLLD) is a new paradigm that involves scientific research and local planning aimed at maintaining and developing biodiversity. The belief is that a local community that regains the ability to design its own future, and has acquired perception of the scientific, economic and cultural value of the territory, is definitely less vulnerable in finding an approach to sustainable land management in the commons.

In the Lazio Region, the agricultural systems that grow and breed varied indigenous genetic resources protected by the Regional Law 15/2000, both animal and vegetable, represent a widespread intangible cultural heritage of “know how” deposits, whether they are oriented toward transforming local products or enhancing intangible assets. For the most part, these farms are located in hilly or mountainous areas, are small in size, and if they are involved in agriculture, it is often not the main activity.

In order to maintain high levels of diversity in the agricultural and semi-natural regional ecosystems by creating more resilient systems that are also capable of mitigating the impact of climate change, Arsial in its role of implementing agency for the Regional Law on protection of agricultural biodiversity, proposes local measures to encourage collective approaches. The approaches, starting with the dynamic conservation of crop diversity, promote exchanges of knowledge among peers as an agricultural training tool. The technical experts are entrusted with the role of facilitators and, flanked and supported by such professionals as anthropologists, sociologists and historians, promote local revival and encourage grassroots participation.

Main Chapter

In the Lazio Region Conservation and Safety Network (provided for by the Regional Law 15/2000) there are currently 496 farmers and 661 breeders who respectively grow/raise 186 varieties and 24 local protected breeds. In the Voluntary Regional Register, there are 48 varieties of field crops listed, mainly belonging to horticultural species whose reproduction is based on a largely informal seed production system. Through a technical-scientific and historical-anthropological approach, ARSIAL and the Rural Seed Network are promoting “networking” actions between local communities that are custodians of agricultural biodiversity and the knowledge related to it. In particular, “focus groups” have been organized among those who have local varieties of the same species: “Red Proceno Garlic” and “Red Castelliri garlic; “Ventotene Lentil”, “Rascino Lentil” and “Onano Lentil.”

The meetings are organized by the members from the Lazio Network for Conservation and Safety who grow local varieties of the same species of garlic (Allium sativum L.) and lentil (Lens culinaris Med). The methodology used was the “focus group” with a moderator. The meeting was also attended by a grower of the local variety of “Santo Stefano Sassanio Lentil”, originating in the Abruzzo region.

The first meeting was held in Fiamignano (RI, 900 m asl) March 1, 2014, where the community of growers of the 3 local varieties of lentil met. The following issues emerged during the meeting:

- varietal control of the seed and cleaning;

- cultivation techniques (mechanization difficulties, manual labour, rotation);

- environmental sustainability (environments located in protected areas and the Natura 2000 Network);

- associations (participation and enthusiasm);

- product communication and sales.

The second meeting was held on April 29, 2014, in Proceno (VT, 400 m asl) with growers of the two local varieties of garlic. Starting with the visit to the fields of “Red Proceno Garlic”, the meeting was an opportunity to exchange information on the following issues:

• propagation system of cloves, choices made both on the farm and in the community;

• identification of specific growing practices to solve plant protection and production problems;

• various uses of the product in terms of processing, from harvesting to the different food preparations;

• enhancement of the local variety in different types of markets from on-the-farm selling to selling at local fairs/markets (0 Km), and medium/large-scale distribution.

The communities of growers involved in the meetings talked about the various methods for growing local varieties of garlic and lentil, the size of the farm and its growing system. Data is recorded in the farm information file for all the growers of the same local variety, in such a way as to obtain a synthesis of information on the varieties (the file proposed by the guidelines drawn up by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food), containing all possible information on the local variety: the morphological, agronomic and historical characteristics, and tracking of the individual farms growing the varieties in situ/on farm. The meetings include socializing - lunch and dinner - between the farmers in the community. Strengthening the links between the different nodes of a social network is essential to its maintenance over time. The Network for Conservation and Safety is a social network made up of players and institutions spread over a vast territory. Opportunities for different players to exchange direct knowledge improve the ability to transfer knowledge and consequently the resilience of the individual local systems.

With the community, an investigation into the knowledge and “know how” of farmers has been started, using the ethnographic method that makes it possible to document ways of life from within the farm, and identify the skills, knowledge and opinions of the farmers themselves in regard to their actions. It will also be possible to develop an interpretative framework centred on “social capital” that may be used for detecting untapped potential, risks and fragility in a local farm that is a keeper of knowledge related to biodiversity.

Session B Poster B10