Agricola Piano cultivates ancient grains from Professor Salvatore Ceccarelli’s mixture and then transforms them into flour with an ancient taste.
Global warming is a reality and today’s agricultural system is ill-suited to cope with the impact of climate change because of the great uniformity that characterises our productions (monoculture). The only answer is Professor Salvatore Ceccarelli’s Ancient Grain Mix.
Who is Professor Ceccarelli?
Salvatore Ceccarelli was Professor of Agricultural Genetics at the Institute of Genetic Improvement, University of Perugia until 1987. From 1980 he conducted research at ICARDA (the International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Environments, Aleppo, Syria) until 2006, and continued to serve the Centre as a consultant until 2014.
He is currently a freelance consultant.
What is Professor Ceccarelli’s evolutionary mix?
It consists of sowing numerous varieties of ancient grains, so not just one variety (only Mallorca wheat, or only Senatore Cappelli wheat), but a mixture of about 2,000 varieties of ancient soft grains.
Once planted in a field, the varieties cross naturally and are influenced by the characteristics of the location. This mixture thus becomes a population.
Why the mixture and not a monocultivar?
Sowing a mixture is an age-old custom and has very good reasons:
- It is used to keep production constant, as each variety is sensitive to certain soil and climate conditions and only when these conditions occur is a good harvest achieved;
- It allows true organic farming, as the different root systems of the different varieties hinder the emergence of weeds;I grani antichi sono più resistenti alle malattie ed agli attacchi degli insetti;
- Allows farmers to save, exchange, improve, reproduce and sell seeds, thus protecting native varieties and biological diversity;
- It significantly lowers production costs, especially if a two-year rotation with legumes is implemented.
Seeds are directly linked to food, and through food to health. So whoever controls the seeds controls our health.