The Employment Crisis and Green Orientation in Agriculture: New Educational Models

Abstract This paper will address to the subject relating to the employment emergency and will analyze which are the conditions that can foster a green shared orientation among all stakeholders in the food system. So they can help to identify ways to solve this dramatic emergency. The study will be divided into three phases: 1. desk analysis on review of current training professional profiles green oriented; 2. evaluation of green employment, labor market and the current training system, with particular reference to the gap between the needs of businesses and provision of training in the sector; 3. thoughts on new green oriented professional profiles and the necessary training. The result will provide a first assessment of the state of art concerning this fundamental condition for the development of a green society

Risk management tools in agriculture: some reflections on the opportunities and limitations of the European Commission proposal

Economic risk management tools in agriculture have been the subject of renewed interest and profound evolution, not only for the their increasing diffusion in national policies in support of agriculture but also in relation to the important role that they could have in adapting agriculture to climate change within the measures of the future CAP. The contribution that economic tools for risk management can bring in this context is related in particular to their flexibility and adaptability to farm needs. Starting from an analysis of tools currently in use at international level and taking into consideration the Italian experience in risk management at national level (the National Solidarity Fund), this paper aims at highlighting both the potential and limitations of risk management tools in the context of the new CAP and its challenges. In fact, in order to be effective, these tools need strong integration in a wider framework of policies and actions on climate change adaptation. Moreover, it is crucial that, when designing these tools, consistency with other key agricultural objectives is ensured, most notably food security and environmental sustainability

Analysis of Factors Used by Farmers to Manage Risk : A Case Study on Italian Farms

International audienceThe study analyses the strategies Italian farmers use to cope with the risks that face their production. We specifically explore the potential and the limitations of the economic tools for climatic risk management in agriculture of the Common Agricultural Policy 2014-2020, that foresees contributions for economic tools for risk management, in relation to farms’ needs, exposure and vulnerability of agricultural areas to climatic risk. We consider at the farm level approaches to hedge risks in terms of the use of technical tools (agricultural practices, pesticides, fertilizers, irrigation) and economic/financial instruments (insurances, etc.). We develop cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses as well as analyses of correlation that underline the main differences between the way farms adapt their structure and management towards risk. The results show a preference for technical tools, despite the presence of important public aids on economic tools such as insurances. Therefore, there is a strong need for a more effective and integrated risk management policy scheme. Synergies between economic tools and risk reduction actions of a more technical, structural and management nature (production diversification, irrigation infrastructures, technological and management innovations and formation-information-consultancy, etc.) are emphasized

Atlas Of Italian Irrigation systems

In the last decade the need of planning and implementing sustainable water policy has grown in the International, European Community and National political milieu. The awareness of applying the concept of sustainability to water resources - according to the ecological, economical, financial and ethical principles - has implied the development of a complete knowledge framework of the complex National water system. Since the second postwar period, the National Institute of Agricultural Economics (INEA) has contributed to design the irrigation water policy in Italy by supporting the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies (MiPAAF) through the provision of technical studies about the issues and development opportunities of the irrigation sector. In particular, in 1965 a specific study produced the publication \u201cCarta delle irrigazioni d\u2019Italia\u201d (Map of irrigation in Italy), realized on provincial scale through the analysis of data collected at municipal level. The work reported also the historical aspects of irrigation in Italy, the main collective irrigation infrastructures and the irrigated agricultural productions. After the 1990\u2019s, the need for more accurate programming of irrigation investments induced the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies to improve the state of knowledge about the irrigation sector through the technical support provided by INEA. Indeed, the recent research activities have been carefully designed in order to capture all relevant aspects of the irrigation sector such as the establishment of a modern and complete, centralized information system. Since 1994, starting from the Southern territories, INEA collected data and information on the irrigation sector and built up the Information System for Water Management in Agriculture (SIGRIA), focusing on territorial, structural, economical and managerial aspects. Since 2000, the information system has been implemented also for Northern and Central Italy by INEA and Regions. The stabilization of the research activities about the irrigation sector led to the definition of a specific research area inside INEA, called \u2018Water Resources Management\u2019 devoted to research and institutional support. In agreement with the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, INEA completed the organization and the updating of collected data in a National geo-database, called the National Information System for Water Management in Agriculture (the SIGRIAN). It is the most complete and updated instrument that supports Governmental Institutions in both efficiently allocating financial resources for investments and optimizing planning and management of water resource at a river basin level. The analysis of data and information collected in the SIGRIAN is the base of the present \u2018Atlas of Italian Irrigation systems\u2019 finalized in 2011 to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Italian Unification. The Atlas provides a thorough presentation of the current situation of the irrigation sector in Italy and its evolution in relation to the former study of 1965, by illustrating main collective irrigation systems and the use of water in agriculture on the base of the River Basin Districts defined by the Water Framework Directive. The Atlas focuses on the principal aspects regarding the evolution of the irrigation sector from 1965 at different levels, such as the regulatory framework, the governance at central and District level, the organization of water management at local level, the issues related to water charges and water management, the description of the condition of main infrastructures

Agrometeorological Services for Landscape Agronomy: The Italian Case in the European Context

International audienceAgricultural landscapes have always been influenced by the local climate. In this context, agrometeorology plays a key role in building decision support systems (DSS) to face the challenges of climate change, as also stressed by the recent Common Agricultural Policy (CAP 2014–2020) of the European Union. To make such DSS effective, accurate agrometeorological data, both time series and real-time observations, must be available. The chapter presents the Italian case: in the framework of the National Rural Network, the Agrometeore project aims to improve and expand resources for agrometeorology at the NUTS2 level, having established a national task force focused on stimulating resource sharing among and interoperability of agrometeorological services. As a first step, a survey on the main features of weather station networks and on data maintenance, processing, and dissemination was administered to each regional representative of the national task force. Survey results showed great heterogeneity among the networks. Based on national websites of (agro)meteorological services, an analogous analysis was performed at the European level. The results again showed great heterogeneity among countries. Participatory processes such as those launched in Italy could strengthen agrometeorological services and make them better able to meet challenges of the future climate in agriculture