Italian Community of Practices on onions launched

On November 27th, the first Italian Community of Practice (CoP) of SUPPORT took place in Bologna. 13 representatives from the onion supply chain (farmers, input providers, researchers and policy makers) met at CREA to discuss the future of onion farming.

After an initial meet and greet moment, people gathered in plenary for a presentation of the CoP, its methods and objectives, and were presented with the state of the art of phytosanitary defence in onion and related policies.

The participants then split into two groups for the first co-creation exercise. This required participants to imagine the onion farm of the future as the first step in the co-creation process of innovative plant protection policies which will accompany the CoP’s activities as the project advances.

The participants were able to share their visions, which were marked by the concern of having to comply with increasingly rigid phytosanitary policies, and therefore by the necessity to review farm structures and organisation in an increasingly difficult economic, commercial, and environmental context.

For further information about the Italian CoP, please contact Alberto Sturla (CREA): alberto.sturla@crea.gov.it