News on Research from Italy

The potato feeds over a billion people but faces disease and limited diversity. Investing in research, breeding, and farmer support is vital to improve resilience and productivity, ensuring it remains a key staple for global food security.

The aim was to create hydrophobic paper by exploiting the mechanical properties and water resistance of cellulose nanofibres, and so produce a sustainable, high-performance material suitable for packaging and biomedical devices. This involved a supramolecular approach, i.e. combining short chains of proteins (peptide sequences) that do not chemically modify the cellulose nanofibres.

Humans have been reshaping the planet’s land for millennia by clearing wildlands to grow crops and raise livestock. As a result, humans have cleared one-third of the world’s forests and two-thirds of wild grasslands

Una contribución de USD 20 millones de parte de los Estados Unidos de América catalizará un uso más eficiente de los fertilizantes. Los fondos se utilizarán principalmente para realizar mapas específicos de nutrientes del suelo para sistematizar y mejorar los mapas de suelos existentes.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) announced on 23 June 2019 that Qu Dongyu has been elected its new Director-General.

Pizzoli S.p.A., Italy's largest operator in the potato sector and Bio-on S.p.A., the leader in eco-sustainable chemical technologies, will collaborate to build Italy's first PHAs bioplastic production plant using waste product from the potato agro-industrial process.

Amica Chips and ICA Foods, two major savoury snack companies on the Italian market with a growing international presence, have joined the responsible advertising pledge of the European Snacks Association (ESA).

This week, the Italian Ministry of Agriculture signed an agreement with AIB (Anti Infringement Bureau) and Breeders Trust. The agreement means that the Food Fraud Detection Inspection of the ministry (ICQRF) and the Inspection Service for seed potatoes and seeds (CRA-SCS) will work closely with AIB and Breeders Trust.

Esta nueva publicación pretende mejorar la conservación de los cultivos alimentarios, muchos de los cuales son cruciales para la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional a nivel mundial.

This week, Breeders Trust successfully reached an agreement with eight Italian agricultural cooperatives and producers that propagated potato varieties and marketed these as officially certified seed potatoes, without permission of the variety owner.

The soaring cost of food is threatening millions of people in poor countries, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned. Food prices have risen an unprecedented 40% in the last year and many nations may be unable to cope, ...