From 16 to 18 September 2026, the 55th National Congress of the Società Italiana di Agronomia took place in Pisa. The congress was organised by the University of Pisa at the Area della Ricerca del CNR under the theme "Sistemi di produzione agricola nell'era della transizione eco-digitale" (Agricultural production systems in the era of the eco-digital transition). The SCALARE team from the University of Messina presented two contributions from its agroforestry field trials in Sicily. Their poster received the Best Poster award.
The poster "Hay production in an organic almond-based agroforestry system in south-eastern Sicily" was authored by Barbara Rachele Ciaramella, Francesca Calderone, Giuseppe Alosi, Aurelio Scavo, Filippo Ferlito and Danilo Scordia. The study presents first results from a field trial in a 35-year-old organic almond orchard of the cultivar Pizzuta d'Avola near Noto, in the province of Syracuse. Barley, burr medic and a barley and medic intercrop were grown in the almond alleys and compared with sole crops and sole almond trees. All agroforestry systems achieved a land equivalent ratio above 1. The almond and medic system reached the highest values, between 2.35 and 2.68. Land savings ranged from 19.2% with barley to 60.9% with medic. Weed biomass was reduced by more than 50% in all agroforestry systems compared to sole trees. The distance to the tree row and the canopy orientation had only a minor effect on crop performance, while the choice of crop species strongly influenced productivity and weed suppression. A second year of field trials is planned to confirm these findings.
In addition, Dr. Danilo Scordia presented the team's vineyard trial in a five-minute elevator pitch titled "Improving land-use efficiency through cereal-legume intercropping in Mediterranean organic vineyard-based agroforestry systems", authored by Francesca Calderone, Aurora Maio, Giuseppe Alosi, Elisa Bonanno, Tommaso La Malfa, Sofia Paternò, Clelia Maria Cangemi, Rachele Ciaramella, Aurelio Scavo, Filippo Ferlito and Danilo Scordia. The study assesses the performance of trees and crops (barley, burr medic and their intercrop), land-use efficiency and ecosystem services in an organic vineyard-based agroforestry system under Mediterranean conditions.
Congratulations to the University of Messina team on this recognition.
SCALARE is supported by the PRIMA Partnership Programme. Funding for each partner is provided by their respective national funding agencies (BMBF, ASRT, MESR, AEI, MUR).
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