Recovery and enhancement of high quality fruit tree varieties to enrich biodiversity and to support organic fruit farming in the cross-border areas
Many areas of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region and of the bordering Slovenia, because of their general characteristics (climatic conditions, crops, types of stock farming) are suitable for fruit crops, for which a large number of them can boast a longstanding tradition. Several of the most important diseases affecting fruit trees have been registered both in Italy and in Slovenia; some of them make quarantine necessary, with repercussions for the market of plant and tree nursery. The growing attention paid to environmental protection and human health, as well as the natural resistance/tolerance to disease shown by fruit trees, that over time have adjusted to their environment, make these crops suitable for low environmental impact farming and in particular for organic practices.Suffice it to mention some of the apple-tree varieties which have been selected through years of research to be resistant to the main fungal diseases (scab/oidium). In this regard, this project aims at enhancing and spreading native genotypes of apple, pear and plum trees in the hill and mountain areas of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region and in the neighbouring Slovenia; the project also involves apple-tree varieties which have proved to be scab tolerant in the whole area concerned. The production obtained by means of low environmental impact regimes provides consumers with a greater health protection. The project objectives can be achieved through: scientific studies aimed at detecting the best varieties from the agronomic and organoleptic points of view, the dissemination of knowledge and selected cultivars among fruit growers, technicians and institutional bodies, divulging information about the selected and cultivated varieties among consumers, ensuring the quality of the fresh and processed products obtained by means of environment-friendly techniques (organic method).