Management models of agricultural systems for the conservation and protection of water resources
Transfer of a model in order to treasure the water resource in hilly areas, in a Mediterranean climate, with a high hydro-geological risk. It will be accomplished by promoting collection micro-systems and the conservative management of the soil, with a particular attention to the organic substance and the microbial balance. In such a way, the resilience of the agricultural system as a whole will be implemented and its capacity to treasure the water resource will be maximized.
The main activities of the project are:
- Scientific and administrative coordination of the project;
- Agronomic interventions to increase the soil water storage capacity in olive groves;
- Recovery of Micro-Basins and setting up soilless tubs for collecting rainwater;
- Strengthening of microbiological activity of the soil;
- Arrangement of escarpments with aromatic plants;
- Evaluation of the productions quality;
- Assessment of the sustainability of crop systems by means indicators;
- Spreading of results.
A more aware and rational use of water resources has guided the guidelines of the European Commission (Water Directive 2000/60/EC), the definition of the Pac towards 2020, the recent communications on water scarcity and drought (2007) and the "Blueprint" document for the safeguard of European water resources (2012) led to encourage for saving water in agriculture by combining the competitiveness of the agricultural system with a stronger protection of natural resources.
Hence the need to identify water recovery techniques (e.g. rainfall) and to adopt cultivation techniques in order to reduce and/or avoid losses of water stored in the soil, and also to increase the water use efficiency for the both rainwater storage systems and species and varieties able to retain soil and water.
The differences between the production systems are remarkable. The management is very often characterized by poor attention to soil conservation problems, particularly important in sloping soils, which are at risk of erosion, and the maintenance of fertility and optimization of water resources. These aspects are essential to ensure adequate productivity and the safeguarding the territory, avoiding land abandonment, especially in the most marginal areas.
The importance of microbial, plant and animal biodiversity emerges noticeably in this form of agriculture. In fact, when the agro-ecosystem is excessively simplified, the ability of crops to resist to stress is reduced. As a consequence, the capacity of plants to take nutrients and to give products of high organoleptic, nutritional and nutraceutical quality worsens.
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