Dear fellow journalists,

TRANSFORMING EUROPEAN LANDSCAPES WITH TREES, CROPS AND LIVESTOCK

4^th November, Barcelona - The partners of the AGROMIX project will gather together in Residenza Le Benedettine, located in Pisa, Italy, from 7th-10th November 2022, to discuss Europe's mission to transform farms into more resilient and effective uses of land.

Agriculture is a leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions, and with increasing food insecurity and a rapidly growing global population, our response to these challenges must begin in the field. The European project AGROMIX, a Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation project that kicked off in November 2020 with a budget of 7 million euros, will run until 2024. AGROMIX focuses on a variety of ‘landscapes’ and seeks to address the physical, socio-economic, cultural, technological, and political aspects of the transition to more effective land use in Europe.

The project is coordinated by Coventry University (UK) and led by 28 partners from 14 European countries, including universities, research centers, government agencies, and on-the-ground farms and farming associations. AGROMIX launched 12 agroforestry and mixed farming co-design pilot sites in three different agro-climatic zones across Europe to develop and test current practices, with the ambition of increasing farms’ environmental and socio-economic resilience.

During AGROMIX's first in-person meeting in Pisa, partners will visit one of the pilot sites, Caseificio Sociale di Manciano, and two of the trial sites, Tenuta di Paganico and Arnino, both of which are in Tuscany, Europe's leading region for agricultural innovation and agribusiness.

“After two years of activities, it is important that all partners get the opportunity to visit some of the sites where researchers and farmers work together to co-design resilient farming systems. As a project, we want to make the most out of this annual meeting and integrate visits to two trial sites as well. We are a very large and diverse group, so we really thrive on this type of interaction that drives us to strengthen meaningful and enriching interactions towards our common goal to find solutions for the future of our landscapes and societies.”

Sara Burbi, Project Coordinator

Caseificio Sociale di Manciano, located in southern Tuscany, is a cooperative cheese factory bringing together roughly 200 farmers who manage a total of 56,000 sheep and produce more than seven million liters of milk per year. AGROMIX partners will visit the cheese factory and witness the on-farm experiments on agroforestry in agrosilvopastoral systems. The system integrates the production of pecorino cheese with agroforestry, thus creating a value chain that is fair for both farmers and the environment.

AGROMIX co-design pilot site in southern Tuscany. Caseificio Sociale di Manciano.

Tenuta di Paganico, located in the central Italian region of Tuscany, is a 1,500 hectare farm with forests, pastures, olive groves, vineyards, and crops. The farm is immersed in a wildlife-rich environment and is home to deer, hares, and porcupines. AGROMIX partners plan to visit its on-farm experiment centered on a silvopastoral system, which evaluates the effect of heat stress on beef cattle and compares productivity in pasture areas with and without trees.

AGROMIX trial site in central Tuscany. Tenuta di Paganico.

Arnino is a farm located at the Centre for Agri-environmental Research “Enrico Avanzi” of the University of Pisa in a typical coastal plain area of Central Italy. The farm covers an area of 40 ha and aims to evaluate the effects of the transition from a conventional arable system to agroforestry on agro-environmental and economic sustainability.

AGROMIX trial site Arnino at the Centre for
Agri-environmental Research “Enrico Avanzi” of the University of Pisa.

AGROMIX’s four-year participatory research project seeks to achieve six main objectives: (1) increase understanding of how mixed farming and agroforestry systems work, (2) ensure access to more sustainable products for consumers and stable income for land managers, (3) create tools that support farmers and land managers in transitioning towards agroecological systems, (4) estimate systems’ performance across different regions, (5) develop policy recommendations for a successful transition and (6) support the development of low-carbon and climate-resilient societies.

During the four-day gathering, project partners will join interactive working groups focused on specific themes and case studies. Partners will exchange expertise, generate ideas, and contribute to Europe's transformation to resilient farming and effective land use. The project’s coordinators, partners and farmer-owners will be available for interviews.

Have questions? Either respond to this email or contact REVOLVE Communication Manager on patricia@revolve.media

Website: www.agromixproject.eu Twitter: @AGROMIXproject