Filiera 4.0 is a cooperation project involving the joint collaboration of three important companies based in Liguria: Liguria Digitale S.p.A., CeRSAA and L’Ortofrutticola Società Cooperativa di Albenga.
Liguria Digitale is a joint-stock company structured to serve the Liguria Region and its Member Bodies.
Liguria Digitale trades in the ICT industry at the service of its Members by carrying out activities that are strictly necessary for the pursuit of their institutional aims: (i) services of general interest pursuant to R.L. n. 42/06; (ii) self-production of instrumental goods and services; (iii) procurement services pursuant to art. 11 R.L. n. 42/06 and as executive branch of the Single Contracting Authority of Regione Liguria.
Liguria Digitale is the Lead Partner of the Cooperation group and, as a company operating in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), is the technological partner of the project. Liguria Digitale is also in charge for the communication and information activities of the project.
As Lead Partner, Liguria Digitale is responsible for the coordination of the Cooperation Project. As a technological partner, Liguria Digitale will be in charge of setting up the digital supply chain traceability system, its maintenance and operation and user support. Liguria Digitale will also be responsible for the communication and information activities related to the project and the dissemination of the project results.
Centro di Sperimentazione e Assistenza Agricola (CeRSAA Centre for Agricultural Experimentation and Assistance), was established in 1961 and initially named "Centro Orticolo Sperimentale" (Experimental Horticultural Centre). It is a Special Agency of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Crafts and Agriculture of Ligurian Rivieras The main objective of this structure is experimenting with new technologies, techniques and products to meet the challenges arising from the constantly evolving and updating agriculture.
CeRSAA is divided into the following operational areas: Projects; Testing Centre; Phytopathological Laboratory; Specialised Services. It has been the Lead Partner of the GAL Valli Savonesi" since 2016. A further separate area of operation is the Certification Body (Made in Quality) accredited to UNI CEI EN ISO/IEC 17065:2012. More details are available at www.cersaa.it.
CeRSAA acts as a research and experimentation structure by testing - first on a small scale and then under pre-application conditions - both the biodegradable/compostable materials to be used in place of conventional synthetic plastics for plant cultivation (pots) and marketing (cones), and the strategies, techniques and products to be introduced into the agricultural practice and intended to reduce the number of plant protection products and the residues present on crops at the time of marketing.
L’Ortofrutticola Società Agricola Cooperativa has been operating in the area since 1941. There are around 600 member farms, covering almost 60% of the agricultural area of the Albenga Plain.
The Cooperative's activities are organised into three business areas:
1. Agricultural Products Warehouse: wholesale warehouse for agricultural products and technical equipment;
2. Flower sector: wholesale of flowering and aromatic potted plants;
3. Vegetable sector: packaging and marketing of typical vegetable products.
The area concerned by the project is the Flower industry, which focuses its activity on the collaboration provided by its own agronomists to the farms and on the marketing of the products (potted flowering and aromatic plants) mainly on the markets of Northern Europe, Germany, Austria and Switzerland through wholesalers and Garden centres and in Italy through large-scale retail chains.
The Cooperativa l'Ortofrutticola, in cooperation with the project partners, picked among its members the farms that will be the first to test the proposed innovations (Pilot Farms).
Pre-field tests will be carried out at the pilot farms both to check which are the best products and/or biodegradable/compostable materials coming out of the trials carried out by CeRSAA on a small scale and to identify, under different cultivation and environmental conditions, the best products coming out of the experimental trials of health defence products carried out by CeRSAA. The 6 farms will also test the solution proposed by Liguria Digitale for the digital "supply chain traceability" system in order to apply it in the production situation.
The Cooperative will also support Liguria Digitale in the development and implementation of communication and demonstration activities in the area, transferring the innovations proposed by the project directly to the associated farms.
