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Cosmetics and food together to give a new life to the soil

2023-05-31T07:41:26.592Z

Highlights: 60-70% of all European soils are unhealthy or degraded due to poor agricultural practices, pollution and urbanisation. Developing agricultural systems that promote soil regeneration both from an environmental and social point of view is the goal of 'Bello e Buono' The three-year project is promoted by Davines Group and Barilla, companies involved in the cosmetics and food sectors. A practice, that of rotation, consists in alternating crops on the same soil year after year, following a precise scheme that allows the different crops to take advantage of each other.


(ANSA)


60-70% of all European soils are unhealthy or degraded due to poor agricultural practices, pollution and urbanisation. Developing agricultural systems that promote soil regeneration both from an environmental and social point of view is the goal of 'Bello e Buono', the three-year project promoted by Davines Group and Barilla, companies involved in the cosmetics and food sectors.

In agricultural areas, soil has lost its natural balance in recent years due to intensive cultivation and the irresponsible use of pesticides. To restore it and enrich it with the organic matter lost over the years, a few kilometers from Parma, areas dedicated to the project have been set up: 10,000 square meters in which the Agronomic Research teams of the two companies have started experimenting with the cultivation of cereals and plants for food in rotation to the production of essences used by the cosmetic industry, such as lemon balm, calendula and lavender.

A practice, that of rotation, which consists in alternating crops on the same soil year after year, following a precise scheme that allows the different crops to take advantage of each other, thus improving soil fertility and water management. "Our approach - explains Elena Bertè, Agronomy Research Manager of the Barilla Group - is based on research, study and measurement. The term regenerative itself expresses the concept of restoring the balance of the earth and the conservation of biodiversity".

"The loss of organic matter in agricultural land fully reflects this degradation. The solution - explains Dario Fornara, research director of the European Regenerative Organic Center of the Davines Group - lies in the rediscovery of agricultural practices that favor the natural biogeochemical processes that take place in the soil ecosystem, accumulating organic carbon in the soil and increasing the biological diversity of the soil".

Source: ansa

All life articles on 2023-05-31

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