Tomatoes grown across the Mediterranean basin are becoming increasingly resilient and efficient in terms of resource use and environmental impact, thanks in part to the work carried out by the University of Perugia. The results of Safe-H2O-Farm, an international project under the European PRIMA Programme (supported by Horizon 2020), coordinated by Professor Michela Farneselli of the University’s Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences (DSA3), were officially presented at the end of May in Sassari during the 23rd Nitrogen Workshop.
The meeting highlighted the project’s main achievements in sustainable nitrogen management, irrigation and salinity control, pesticide reduction, integrated pest management, remote sensing, and the socio-economic challenges associated with olive and tomato production in Mediterranean agriculture. After a three-year research programme involving a significant network of research institutions from Cyprus, Croatia, Germany, Israel, Spain and Turkey, the Safe-H2O-Farm project demonstrated that “the combination of cover crops and precision nitrogen fertilization,” Farneselli explains, “can maintain high tomato productivity while simultaneously reducing environmental impact.”
Multi-year and multi-site field trials were conducted to assess the agronomic and environmental performance of adaptive nitrogen management strategies based on crop demand, soil nitrogen dynamics and real-time monitoring tools, together with complementary approaches such as cover cropping and the application of biostimulants.