Innovative organisation of garlic value chain process for the sustainable production of "aglio bianco piacentino" seed
Dry rot of garlic is an emerging problem that leads to huge production losses, particularly during storage. A previous project has highlighted the crucial role played by seeds in this disease, as it is commonly infected with an incidence close to 100% even in the absence of visible symptoms of the disease. The objective of this proposal is to work on the critical points detected in the seed production line, interventions that directly or indirectly will also contribute to the health of the product destined for the fresh market.
The project will work on all these aspects,
- improving the performances of the ginning machine, to beused after calibration of the bulbs;
- optimizing disinfection actions, with high priority for interventions with zero-impact, both on the environment and on operators;
- applying seed coating with low impact products, preferring organic products, and using a film seed coating.
The critical points identified in the previous research project are the following: 1) damage caused to bulbs by ginning machines; 2) high incidence of bulbs infected and high contamination of working environments; 3) low efficacy of seed treatments. Therefore, the project will work on all these aspects, 1) improving the performances of the ginning machine, after calibration of the bulbs; 2) optimizing disinfection actions, with priority for those with zero-impact; 3) applying seed coating with rganic products and using a film seed coating. At the end of this project, it will be possible to make strategic actions having all the elements to settle an optimized garlic seed supply chain. High quality and safety requirements will be obtained through the adoption of specific guidelines with description of techniques and products to be used to obtain a "seed" product to guarantee the success of the crop and therefore an adequate profit for garlic producers. Therefore the expected results are: 1) improvement of the ginning machine; 2) development of a sustainable sanitizing and tanning, with an innovative film coating technique; 3) preparation of guidelines for garlic seed production.The main benefits that will derive from the present project will concern: i) the production of healthy garlic seed, obtained with a sustainable approach; ii) development of an innovative film coating system for treating garlic seed; iii) development of a procedure for “biancoseme” healthy garlic seed production; iv) improvement of the quality and health of garlic produced “biancoseme”. These results can be exploited by operators involved in the Piacenza white garlic consortium to improve their production chain and to expand their seed market.