CREA-AA - Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria Centro di ricerca per lo studio delle relazioni tra pianta e suolo, Italy

The Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria (CREA) is a National Research Organization which operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture, with general scientific competence within the fields of agriculture, agroindustry, food, fishery and forestry. The distribution of the CREA offices throughout national territories allows the organization to widely distribute its expertise and to closely operate in conjunction with local stakeholders. CREA-AA (Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria - Centro di ricerca Agricoltura e Ambiente), based in Rome, and CREA-CI (Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria – Centro di Ricerca Cerealicoltura e Colture Industriali), based in Caserta, will carry out this project. CREA-AA's main fields of interest are: agroecology, plant physiology, cropping system design and management, sustainable soil fertility management and assessment, and soil quality evaluation, while CREA-CI gathers expertise about composting and compost amendment, soil organic carbon management in vegetables crops (both in open field or protected conditions), phytopathology and qualitative analysis of vegetables and fruits.

Since the early 90s, CREA has been involved in national and international research projects on organic production. CREA-AA has more than 70 scientists, 30 technicians and a complete administrative staff. It is located in Rome, Florence, Bologna and Bari and is endowed with modern and fully equipped laboratories for soil, plant and fertilisers analysis and soil fertility assessment.

Role in the project

CREA is responsible for:

• scientific coordination and monitoring of all project activities (work package 1);
• monitor the italian experimental site, which is managed by Azienda Colombaia (SME project partner)
• manage soil and plant sampling along the entire project under the supervision of work package 2, work package 3 and work package 4 leaders for resilent cropping systems, soil fertility and soil health and functional biodiversity assessment, respectively;
• analysis of soil and plant physico-chemical for nutrients availability and soil C changes in compared treatments, under the supervision of work package 3 leader;
• dissemination of the project results from the Italian partnership and data collection for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) under the supervision of work package 5 leader.