Practice Abstract - Research and innovation

PA5: Dairy production with an agroecological approach
AGROMIX Pilot Site: ‘Cheese Valley’ Manciano, Tuscany, Italy

PA5: Dairy production with an agroecological approach
AGROMIX Pilot Site: ‘Cheese Valley’ Manciano, Tuscany, Italy

Located in southern Tuscany, the Caseificio Sociale di Manciano is a cooperative cheese factory bringing together roughly 200 farmers who manage a total of 56,000 sheep and produce more than 7 million litres of milk per year.

The cooperative’s members face several environmental challenges, including soil erosion, unpredictable rainfall, and higher frequency of drought during the summer. To tackle these challenges, some members have begun implementing climate-smart techniques, including the reduction of soil tillage, the intercropping of grass and legumes, an increase in the share of legume meadow in crop rotation (to boost long-term temporary grassland in crop rotation), and planting trees at the perimeter of the fields.

Farmers consulted by AGROMIX project reported positive results from these experiments, highlighting that to receive the benefits of these techniques farmers must implement a combination of these regenerative techniques at the field and farm levels.

In terms of the future of regenerative systems in the region, members of Coop Manciano highlighted the need to increase and spread the know-how of implementing agroecological practices. Much work is needed to increase advisory services, carry out research in pilot farms, establish living labs for farmer-to-farmer learning, and to strengthen farmers’ networks.

Located in southern Tuscany, the Caseificio Sociale di Manciano is a cooperative cheese factory bringing together roughly 200 farmers who manage a total of 56,000 sheep and produce more than 7 million litres of milk per year.

The cooperative’s members face several environmental challenges, including soil erosion, unpredictable rainfall, and higher frequency of drought during the summer. To tackle these challenges, some members have begun implementing climate-smart techniques, including the reduction of soil tillage, the intercropping of grass and legumes, an increase in the share of legume meadow in crop rotation (to boost long-term temporary grassland in crop rotation), and planting trees at the perimeter of the fields.

Farmers consulted by AGROMIX project reported positive results from these experiments, highlighting that to receive the benefits of these techniques farmers must implement a combination of these regenerative techniques at the field and farm levels.

In terms of the future of regenerative systems in the region, members of Coop Manciano highlighted the need to increase and spread the know-how of implementing agroecological practices. Much work is needed to increase advisory services, carry out research in pilot farms, establish living labs for farmer-to-farmer learning, and to strengthen farmers’ networks.

Source Project
AGROforestry and MIXed farming systems - Participatory research to drive the transition to a resilient and efficient land use in Europe
Ongoing | 2020-2024
Main funding source
Horizon 2020 (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
Geographical location
United Kingdom
Project details

Project Keywords