The project

Analysis of the context and innovation needs


The territorial context of reference is the internal hills of the province of Pesaro-Urbino and in particular that of the companies that join the Terre Marchigiana Organic District (of which the lead company is a founding member), a district that brings together 110 companies in the organic agri-food sector for 5,200 cultivated hectares.

 

The sunflower is an annual cycle plant and the European reform which affected oilseed crops places it among the plants for renewal, since it takes advantage of deep tillage and organic fertilization and which leaves the soil in good fertility conditions for rotation with wheat. The sunflower is a characteristic crop of the Marche agricultural landscape, because it is suitable for dry hilly terrain and for rotation with cereals, allowing that rotation essential for sustainable agriculture, as requested by the Common Agricultural Policy and by some agri-environmental measures of the Rural Development Program .


The strong increase in demand for animal proteins for the world population expected in the coming years leads to a constant search for alternatives, both from a social and environmental point of view. It is therefore important to develop new plant protein sources for human nutrition and an alternative could be the use of a sunflower by-product (the cake, deriving from the pressing of the sunflower achenes) from a circular economy perspective.

Furthermore, the market for organic oilseeds and the market for their finished products (dehulled achenes, achene flour and cold-extracted oil) are growing both in Italy and around the world.


In addition to the production of achenes, oil and by-products, the sunflower is a melliferous plant, because it is rich in pollen and nectar, which are essential for the nourishment of the domestic bee (Apis mellifera) and wild pollinators.


In the Marche the beekeeping sector is of particular importance on an economic, environmental and social level, playing a fundamental role in the agri-food offer of quality regional products. In the past, unifloral sunflower honey has always represented a characteristic production of the Marche region. For various reasons (the organization and management of cultivation systems, the spread of sunflower varieties not capable of providing bees with a constant quantity and quality of nourishment, climate changes, etc.) in recent years hives have faced long periods of " famine".

 

The cultivation of old sunflower varieties that are resilient to climate change and able to adapt to the organic agricultural systems of the internal hills of the Marche region, capable of satisfying some nutritional technical characteristics, make this crop very interesting for increasing plant biodiversity, ecosystem services, competitiveness and the diversification of agricultural activity.

GENERAL OBJECTIVE

In relation to the preferential topics, the project aims to:


    Protection of biodiversity: selection of old sunflower accessions for the production of achenes and oil.


    Climate change mitigation: selection of old sunflower accessions for the production of resilient seeds.


    Protection of ecosystem services: ecological service evaluation of the accessions under test.


    Biological techniques: selection of old sunflower accessions for biological farming systems.


    Protects soil functionality: The sunflower leaves the soil in good fertility conditions.


    Quality of food products and functional foods: Analysis of bioactive substances in achenes, oil, cake, pollen and honey. Possibility of using the cake for the preparation of baked products.

  • Operational objectives

    The Project will introduce innovative processes (PROCESS CHANGES) in the organic sunflower supply chain, specifically:

  • Innovations

    The project involves different levels of innovation including:

  • Connection with other production chains

    The BEEFLOWER project is mainly inserted within the production chains of organic farms, as they are those that have a greater need for cash renewal crops. The intent is to increase the profitability of the sunflower and all its products in order to make this crop attractive to organic agricultural entrepreneurs. The inclusion of renewal crops in rotation has the effect of improving the chemical-physical fertility of the soil, reducing the contributions of off-farm technical means. Precisely the reduction in the use of fertilizers, mainly nitrogenous, allows for better agronomic management of rotations and the incentive to use the organic method are among the general objectives of the Montefeltro and Metauro Area Agri-Environmental Agreement, an excerpt of which is reported below:

  • Target companies in addition to partners

    In addition to the lead company, and the companies of the Terre Marchigiane Organic District, the innovation of the project is also aimed at all the cereal companies in the Marche that operate under organic farming and in which the production of grain in the context of a rotation that sees the sunflower as a renewal crop in succession to the autumn-winter cereals. The results of the project will also be of interest to agri-food companies regarding oil, achenes and the valorisation of protein cake as a functional ingredient in the bakery products sector. Furthermore, the project also involves all beekeeping companies in the Marche region.

  • Methodological approach

    The staff of the Agronomy and Herbaceous Crops group of the D3A (UNIVPM) will be responsible for the identification and selection of resilient old sunflower accessions for the production of oil, achenes and seeds. The staff of the Food Technologies group will take care of the chemical characterization and analyze the bioactive compounds present in the oil obtained from cold pressing, in the hulled achenes and in the sunflower cake/flour. The staff of the General and Applied Entomology group, during the implementation of this cooperation project, will deal with the evaluation of the nectar and pollen produced by the different service sunflower accessions.

Organization and description of the activities of the participating subjects

  • Action A 1 – Organization and management of the operational group

    The activities include meetings between all the component partners to make technical and organizational choices necessary for the management of the GO. This action involves an initial meeting between the project partners to plan and coordinate the project activities. Each partner will illustrate the action for which they are responsible so as to verify technical choices, activity times and available materials. The lead company, together with the D3A General and Applied Entomology group, will organize periodic meetings aimed at sharing the progress of the work and planning the subsequent actions of the project. Each person responsible for a specific action will be required to inform the partners on the progress of the activities and will be able to call extraordinary meetings in case of problems and delays encountered during the activities. The partners will make their skills available to resolve these problems. The lead company will maintain relations with the Marche Region and with the various D3A research groups during the entire duration of the project.

  • Action A 2 – Agronomic tests comparing old and new sunflower accessions for the production of achenes, oil and for company self-production of seeds

    General objective

  • Action A 3 – Evaluation of the ecosystem service of cultivated sunflower accessions

    Description

  • Action A 4 – Qualitative analyzes on decorticated achenes, oil and protein cake

    Description

  • Action A 5 – Dissemination and dissemination of results

    UNIVPM will carry out dissemination through IT applications (blogs, forums, chats, media sharing platforms, social networks) dedicated to the innovative processes implemented in the project. The applications will also be prepared with an English language version to facilitate the exchange of knowledge also at an international level with particular attention to other GOs and community platforms (e.g. EIP). Disclosure will also take place through the UNIVPM institutional WEB and the INNOVAMARCHE.IT portal. There are 3 conferences and 1 seminar also broadcast in streaming (addressed to organic and non-organic farms, beekeepers, sector professionals and technicians, academia and consumers), a demonstration initiative (practical session) in the company. The first conference will illustrate the operational proposal of the project, the second the progress of the work and the first results obtained, the third will present the results of the cooperation project. Video recordings will be made and these will be shared via computer applications. News letters, leaflets and company signage will also be created. 2 technical/informative meetings will be organized to take stock of the activity carried out, the partial results, and any critical issues that may have arisen.

Disclosure and Transfer

of activities and results


The activities planned for the dissemination and transfer of the results to the various stakeholders include:


    IT applications (media sharing platforms, social networks) to raise awareness and make known the project, the methods and the results obtained;


    Video footage to illustrate the project activities;


    3 conferences (1 per year; also broadcast in streaming), aimed at organic and non-organic farms, beekeepers, sector professionals and technicians, academia and consumers, to raise awareness and raise awareness of the project, the methods and the results obtained;


    1 seminar also broadcast in streaming, aimed at organic and non-organic farms, beekeepers, sector professionals and technicians and the university world, on innovative systems in the organic sunflower supply chain;



    Demonstration day at the lead company with involvement of stakeholders with a tasting of the products obtained from the innovative resilient organic sunflower supply chain.


All project partners will be committed to disseminating and raising awareness among other companies potentially interested in the practical application of the experimentation by inviting them not only to participate in conferences and seminars but also in the tests necessary for data acquisition. Leaflet informative articles and newsletters illustrating the phases and results of the project will be released at national and international conferences and fairs and published on the specifically dedicated WEB site, as well as on that of INNOVAMARCHE.