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RIGENERA is a project born from a partnership between CIF (Fruit Innovation Consortium), APOT (Association of Trentino Fruit and Vegetable Producers), and xFarm , co-funded by the Autonomous Province of Trento. The project aims to promote regenerative and digital fruit growing in Trentino, capable of addressing the risks posed by climate and environmental change through sustainable soil management and the preservation of biodiversity.
Against a backdrop of growing attention to environmental and socio-economic issues, the agricultural sector is also called upon to play an active role by adopting innovative practices and technologies that protect soil health, promote carbon sequestration, increase biodiversity, and mitigate climate risks, while ensuring farm productivity. The RIGENERA project aims to develop and validate a regenerative agriculture protocol applicable to the Trentino apple-growing system, supporting the transition toward a more resilient production model based on more efficient management of natural resources. The APOT production system, which includes the Melinda and La Trentina Consortia, represents nearly the entirety of Trentino’s apple-growing sector: a sector spanning 10,500 hectares, with 7,800 fruit growers and an average farm size of 1.4 hectares distributed across 30,200 plots, of which APOT alone accounts for 9,000 hectares and nearly 5,000 producers.
The project activities are divided into three specific actions: i) identification and characterization of the main climate challenges that may affect apple production in Trentino, through analysis of medium- and long-term climate risk; ii) implementation and monitoring of regenerative agriculture practices on a representative sample of approximately 60 farms, located in various areas of Trentino and representing both integrated and organic production methods, with the collection of data on biodiversity and soil health; iii) development of a regenerative agriculture protocol applicable to the entire APOT production system, integrated with biodiversity data and the results of climate risk analyses. These are complemented by cross-cutting actions such as iv) cooperation among partners and v) the dissemination and transfer of knowledge to farmers through workshops and technical meetings in the region.
The main expected outcomes are the development and field validation of an operational protocol for regenerative agriculture, the integration of biodiversity data and climate risk analysis into a unified decision-making framework, and the large-scale adoption of the identified practices, benefiting the approximately 5,000 producers and 9,000 hectares represented by APOT.
With its long-standing apple-growing tradition, a well-established cooperative system such as the Melinda and La Trentina Consortia, and a strong focus on innovation in the agro-environmental sector, Trentino provides an ideal setting for testing and consolidating approaches that integrate productivity, sustainability, and resilience.
DURATION: 36 months (from July 7, 2025, to July 7, 2028)
PROGRAM: Measure SRG01 in support of the PEI AGRI Operational Groups under the 2023–2027 CAP Strategic Plan and the related Rural Development Complement for the Autonomous Province of Trento
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