On the second day of Macfrut, the international fruit and vegetable trade fair that is taking place until tomorrow at the Rimini Expo Center, the spotlight is on innovations in biosolutions and varietal research in the table grape sector. The Agricultural Transformation Programme of the Democratic Republic of Congo was also presented.
Biosolutions Innovation Award
Product innovation was awarded at the fourth edition of the Biosolutions Innovation Award, within the Biosolutions International Event of Macfrut, which has become the European reference for the sector with around seventy participating companies. Coordinated by Agri2000 net, scientific partner of the event, two innovations were awarded by the scientific committee: VYNYTY Pro Press of Bayer and YaraMila NUTRI by Yara .
In detail, VYNYTY Pro Press It improves the effectiveness of sexual confusion in tomatoes and peaches thanks to the longer duration of the treatment, the ease of use and the high sustainability of the product, since it degrades naturally in the environment at the end of its life cycle.
The other innovative product awarded is YaraMila NUTRI by Yara . Used in horticultural crops, it improves the growth of the root system and allows better absorption of nutrients in low doses.
Macfrut Symposium on table grapes
New Zealand and Italian Club Variety , Two of the three Apulian breeders specialising in varietal improvement of Italian table grapes , are working towards a very important goal for the Italian table grape sector: to have an early grape variety 'Italia' that is consistent in both qualitative and quantitative properties. This is one of the main highlights of the Macfrut Table Grape Symposium, an opportunity to assess the state of the art of research in this strategic sector for Italy.
Among the latest agricultural techniques presented are the so-called 'embryo rescue' and an innovative field technique that even anticipates production as early as May.
"The first day of the Symposium on table grapes," he says Bruno Mezzetti, professor at the Polytechnic University of Le Marche and Symposium Coordinator "All public and private research programmes dedicated to table grapes were discussed, both by Italian and international institutions."
All the major breeders were present at the event and announced the release of new varieties over the next year. However, local research is also thriving, with the two Apulian breeders, Nuvaut and the Italian Club Variety, announcing plans to release some twenty new varieties each over the next year. The trend is to develop predominantly seedless grapes, early or late varieties, suitable for cultivation in the southern regions of the country, ensuring both yield and quality.
The Italian Variety Club presented its tests on the so-called “embryo rescue” technique based on in vitro techniques. The aim is to develop the embryo in vitro before degradation occurs. This is achieved by planned crosses and identifying the ideal time to harvest it while it is still viable. Compared to the work of large breeders, the work of the small ones in Puglia involves the search for ancient native varieties that can create supply chains with a distinct territorial identity if nursery material is available.
The world of table grape nurseries is also undergoing a revolution. Those who do not adapt to these market revolutions risk being left behind. Vitroplant revolutionises the world of rootstocks by combining micropropagation techniques for both vine plants and rootstocks planted when they are green and therefore not woody (and therefore vectors of phytopathologies) as those traditionally used. This system guarantees unquestionably healthy plants.
Israeli farmers have borrowed this technique from tomato cultivation and are already using it in the fields. Similar tests are also being actively carried out in France.
The agricultural transformation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Today The Agricultural Transformation Programme of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was presented. Philippe Ngwala Malemba, National Coordinator of the Social Fund, the implementing body of the Plan , and agronomist Alphonse Roger Ntoto illustrated the details of the ATP The Democratic Republic of Congo has very high potential and intends to launch collaboration opportunities for Italian and European companies wishing to invest in the African state. The Agricultural Transformation Programme (ATP), an investment approach aimed at increasing farmers' productivity, originated in the National Pact for Food and Agriculture in the Democratic Republic of Congo and is part of the presidential initiative that enshrines the 'revenge of the soil on the subsoil' as a new paradigm of resilience and national economic development. The programme aims to increase farmers' productivity through secure access to essential agricultural production factors and services and to ensure the connectivity of production basins with agro-industrial processing centres and markets. The horticultural sector represents a great potential for import substitution. In the Republic of Congo, for example, the development of the international cassava market benefits large livestock farms, and there is talk of the possibility of replacing wheat with cassava for baking, which would also be a response to the Ukraine-Russia crisis. The projects in the Republic of Congo also aim to improve the investment climate and trade policy by reorganizing and monitoring target sectors. The government's goal is to reduce the value of imports by 601% over five years, estimated at nearly $6.5 billion annually. Two projects are in the pipeline to improve sectoral governance and the quality of the workforce and entrepreneurship and to reduce the incidence of food insecurity and food imports in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
For more information
Elena Vincenzi and Michela Dongi
Macfrut international press office c/o fruitecom srl
Mobile: +39 340 5588 732; +39 348 4074 079
