Summary

Despite being one of the most important fruit- and vegetable-producing regions in Italy, Emilia-Romagna’s strawberry and apple production has been in decline for 20 years. In order to reassert the competitiveness of the sector, an EIP operational group was set up to identify, test and distribute new, more resilient fruit varieties that meet the needs and preferences of consumers.

Results

The project was able to prove that the use of resistant and resilient fruit varieties can result in reduced production costs, reduced environmental impact and better economic performance for producers.