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Dr. Ileana Iocola
CREA Research Center for Agriculture and Environmetal

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0 Agroecology
0 Mitigation
0 Participatory Approaches
0 Sustainability

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Journal article
Published: 15 May 2021 in Sustainability
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The implementation of agroecology principles within organic farming research is a crux to redesign sustainable agri-food systems. To govern this transition, the local research demand should be addressed by direct engagement of all stakeholders in the research process. The first step is the involvement of farmers and technicians, with the aim of restoring their decision-making role, switching governance to local scale. The co-design/co-management of Long-Term Experiments (LTEs) can be crucial to govern the above-described transition through networking and participatory activities. In this study, we report the experience of co-designing a new LTE in Southern Italy by local actors and scientists. Through a participatory action research methodology, an LTE was considered as a biophysical component of an agroecological living lab, a public–private environment aimed to design a local food system. The setup of parallel field trials in satellite farms stands for the other biophysical component, whereas the stakeholder platform represents the social one. Through definition of common objectives, a step-by-step process is presented, which highlights the interest of local organic actors to share ideas and perspectives for the territory, pointing out the inclusion of end-users (the consumers) in the process to complete the transition to sustainable food systems.

ACS Style

Corrado Ciaccia; Elena Testani; Angelo Fiore; Ileana Iocola; Marta Di Pierro; Giuseppe Mele; Filippo Ferlito; Marcello Cutuli; Francesco Montemurro; Roberta Farina; Danilo Ceccarelli; Alessandro Persiani; Stefano Canali; Mariangela Diacono. Organic Agroforestry Long-Term Field Experiment Designing Trough Actors’ Knowledge towards Food System Sustainability. Sustainability 2021, 13, 5532 .

AMA Style

Corrado Ciaccia, Elena Testani, Angelo Fiore, Ileana Iocola, Marta Di Pierro, Giuseppe Mele, Filippo Ferlito, Marcello Cutuli, Francesco Montemurro, Roberta Farina, Danilo Ceccarelli, Alessandro Persiani, Stefano Canali, Mariangela Diacono. Organic Agroforestry Long-Term Field Experiment Designing Trough Actors’ Knowledge towards Food System Sustainability. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (10):5532.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Corrado Ciaccia; Elena Testani; Angelo Fiore; Ileana Iocola; Marta Di Pierro; Giuseppe Mele; Filippo Ferlito; Marcello Cutuli; Francesco Montemurro; Roberta Farina; Danilo Ceccarelli; Alessandro Persiani; Stefano Canali; Mariangela Diacono. 2021. "Organic Agroforestry Long-Term Field Experiment Designing Trough Actors’ Knowledge towards Food System Sustainability." Sustainability 13, no. 10: 5532.

Journal article
Published: 12 February 2021 in Italian Journal of Agronomy
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The agriculture sustainability assessment is a difficult issue for the coexistence of conflicting objectives and the multidimensionality of the performances. The environmental, economic and social pillars need to be simultaneously considered in an assessment to evaluate potential synergies and trade-offs of the agricultural processes within and among the attributes of the dimensions in both implemented systems (ex-post analysis) and potential options (ex-ante analysis). Among several sustainability assessment methods, tools based on multi-criteria analysis (MCA) are increasingly adopted in evaluating sustainability in agriculture. The aim of this work was to present the MCA tool developed in the framework of the BioDurum project for the sustainability assessment of organic farms located in southern Italy and characterised by durum wheat-based crop rotations. The tool was entirely designed through a participatory process and it was realised using the open-source DEXi software that have demonstrated to be particularly suitable for creating qualitative multi-criterial hierarchic models with the engage of stakeholders. The hierarchic structure of BioDurum_MCA tool was resulted composed by 64 indicators and 45 aggregated attributes articulated in three branches representing the agro-environment, economic, and social sustainability pillars. The articulated structure of the tool reflected the complexity and the sustainability issues and priorities expressed by the involved stakeholders. The tool was tested in four Italian organic farms presenting different agro-environmental and socio-economic patterns for their ex-post evaluations and in three different ex-ante production systems identified in compliance with the Italian regulation concerning the requirements of the rotations to be implemented in organic farming. The results highlighted the well discriminatory power of the tool. The best overall sustainability scores were reached in both ex-post and ex-ante analysis by the well diversified cereal farming systems with processed products sold through short supply chain mechanisms. BioDurum_MCA has proved to be a feasible tool to identify strengths and weaknesses of organic durum wheat-based production systems. Its adoption can support the definition of specific interventions for the sector in the Italian Strategic National Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy. Further improvements in the threshold classes of some indicators by using the tool in a wider number of Italian durum wheat based organic farms will increase model sensitivity and reliability of the results. Highlights - BioDurum_MCA is an effective tool for sustainability assessment of durum wheat organic Italian production systems. - Hierarchic structure of the tool reflects the sustainability issues and priorities expressed by involved stakeholders. - MCA tools can support a holistic evaluation of farm sustainability performances in the frame of post-2020 CAP.

ACS Style

Ileana Iocola; Luca Colombo; Giovanni Dara Guccione; Pasquale De Vita; Massimo Palumbo; Vincenzo Ritunnano; Fabiola Sciacca; Nino Virzì; Stefano Canali. A multi-criteria qualitative tool for the sustainability assessment of organic durum wheat-based farming systems designed through a participative process. Italian Journal of Agronomy 2021, 16, 1 .

AMA Style

Ileana Iocola, Luca Colombo, Giovanni Dara Guccione, Pasquale De Vita, Massimo Palumbo, Vincenzo Ritunnano, Fabiola Sciacca, Nino Virzì, Stefano Canali. A multi-criteria qualitative tool for the sustainability assessment of organic durum wheat-based farming systems designed through a participative process. Italian Journal of Agronomy. 2021; 16 (1):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ileana Iocola; Luca Colombo; Giovanni Dara Guccione; Pasquale De Vita; Massimo Palumbo; Vincenzo Ritunnano; Fabiola Sciacca; Nino Virzì; Stefano Canali. 2021. "A multi-criteria qualitative tool for the sustainability assessment of organic durum wheat-based farming systems designed through a participative process." Italian Journal of Agronomy 16, no. 1: 1.

Journal article
Published: 06 July 2020 in Sustainability
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Crop diversification represents a key lever to support the development of sustainable agri-food systems. Knowledge on trade-offs and carry over effects from different crop diversification strategies is essential to inform agricultural stakeholders of potential costs and benefits. This knowledge is limited by existing data and performance measures predominantly focused on single crops, rather than complete rotations. Moreover, sustainability performance indicators are often used for assessment purposes, rather than supporting stakeholder learning and actions. A new set of 32 indicators was developed to address these needs, and used to evaluate the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the diversified agricultural systems highlighted in the case studies, which are often characterized by data availability constraints. This approach was tested in France, Germany and Italy to determine a critical ex-post diagnosis of the existing systems, and for the assessment of ex-ante innovative scenarios. The results will be used to support these case studies in the identification and design of more sustainable agricultural systems. Although the framework is based on feasible and proxy indicators, the assessment outcomes have allowed local actors to reflect on the effects generated by the implemented crop diversification strategies. Key issues include trade-offs occurring between optimizing economic and environmental performance.

ACS Style

Ileana Iocola; Frédérique Angevin; Christian Bockstaller; Rui Catarino; Michael Curran; Antoine Messéan; Christian Schader; Didier Stilmant; Florence Van Stappen; Paul Vanhove; Hauke Ahnemann; Jérémy Berthomier; Luca Colombo; Giovanni Dara Guccione; Emmanuel Mérot; Massimo Palumbo; Nino Virzì; Stefano Canali. An Actor-Oriented Multi-Criteria Assessment Framework to Support a Transition Towards Sustainable Agricultural Systems Based on Crop Diversification. Sustainability 2020, 12, 5434 .

AMA Style

Ileana Iocola, Frédérique Angevin, Christian Bockstaller, Rui Catarino, Michael Curran, Antoine Messéan, Christian Schader, Didier Stilmant, Florence Van Stappen, Paul Vanhove, Hauke Ahnemann, Jérémy Berthomier, Luca Colombo, Giovanni Dara Guccione, Emmanuel Mérot, Massimo Palumbo, Nino Virzì, Stefano Canali. An Actor-Oriented Multi-Criteria Assessment Framework to Support a Transition Towards Sustainable Agricultural Systems Based on Crop Diversification. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (13):5434.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ileana Iocola; Frédérique Angevin; Christian Bockstaller; Rui Catarino; Michael Curran; Antoine Messéan; Christian Schader; Didier Stilmant; Florence Van Stappen; Paul Vanhove; Hauke Ahnemann; Jérémy Berthomier; Luca Colombo; Giovanni Dara Guccione; Emmanuel Mérot; Massimo Palumbo; Nino Virzì; Stefano Canali. 2020. "An Actor-Oriented Multi-Criteria Assessment Framework to Support a Transition Towards Sustainable Agricultural Systems Based on Crop Diversification." Sustainability 12, no. 13: 5434.

Journal article
Published: 22 October 2018 in Sustainability
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Organic agriculture is perceived as environmentally sustainable, but, under its umbrella, different production systems exist ranging from simplified organic productions to well diversified systems with a full implementation of agro-ecological approaches. Among several developed tools for agriculture sustainability assessment, multi-criteria models are increasingly gaining importance. In this study, we evaluated the use of the multi-criteria DEXi-BIOrt tool, coupled with data from long-term experiments, for the sustainability assessment of different organic vegetable production scenarios. These scenarios were applied in two Italian areas: the Adriatic coast of Marche Region and the Metaponto plan of Basilicata Region. Despite the presence of some critical issues, DEXI-BIOrt proved to be a valid tool for the sustainability evaluation of organic vegetable productions. In both areas, the most sustainable scenarios resulted the well diversified organic systems characterized by proper rotations, inclusion of agro-ecological service crops, cultivation of local and different cultivars, and presence of short supply chain mechanisms. Conversely, the implementation of the simplified organic substitution scenarios does not guarantee a suitable level of sustainability. The findings of this study could support decision makers in the implementation of appropriate measures for enhancing organic production sustainability in the framework of post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy.

ACS Style

Ileana Iocola; Gabriele Campanelli; Mariangela Diacono; Fabrizio Leteo; Francesco Montemurro; Alessandro Persiani; Stefano Canali. Sustainability Assessment of Organic Vegetable Production Using a Qualitative Multi-Attribute Model. Sustainability 2018, 10, 3820 .

AMA Style

Ileana Iocola, Gabriele Campanelli, Mariangela Diacono, Fabrizio Leteo, Francesco Montemurro, Alessandro Persiani, Stefano Canali. Sustainability Assessment of Organic Vegetable Production Using a Qualitative Multi-Attribute Model. Sustainability. 2018; 10 (10):3820.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ileana Iocola; Gabriele Campanelli; Mariangela Diacono; Fabrizio Leteo; Francesco Montemurro; Alessandro Persiani; Stefano Canali. 2018. "Sustainability Assessment of Organic Vegetable Production Using a Qualitative Multi-Attribute Model." Sustainability 10, no. 10: 3820.

Journal article
Published: 31 August 2018 in Field Crops Research
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Process-oriented agro-ecosystem models are increasingly applied to assess crop management options or impacts of climate change on agricultural production, food security and ecosystem services. Thereby, the aggregation of initial soil and climate information is a widely used approach for performing simulations at larger scales such as regions, nations or even globally. In this context, the ability of models to respond to different site conditions is essential for high quality impact assessment through the use of modelling tools. As part of a model inter-comparison the present study investigated models’ yield response on variable site conditions using data sets from two well-documented fields, one located in Germany and one in Italy. The fields were sampled at 60 and 100 grid points, respectively, and soil and crop variables were recorded at varying intensity for the entire simulation period covering three growing seasons. The data was provided successively to the participating modelling groups in three calibration steps (a, b, and c) and the first growing season was considered for calibration. Model validation was based on these steps and each growing season as well as on the entire simulation period considering the soil state variables mineral nitrogen and water content (N, WC) as well as crop yield, biomass, and leaf area index (LAI). The WC was best depicted by the models, resulting in high correlation coefficients (r) up to 0.81 between simulated and observed values. The root mean square error (RMSE) of simulated N ranged from 20 kg ha−1 to 1072 kg ha−1 regarding all steps and growing seasons. The annual within-field variability of yields was better simulated by the models when observed subsoil information was provided. However, the RMSE ranged from 0.5 t ha−1 to 3.5 t ha−1 at the German field, and from 0.6 t ha−1 to 5.9 t ha−1 at the Italian field, respectively. It was found that intensified calibration did not necessarily lead to improved model output. Furthermore, single models showed specific inconsistencies in their algorithms when, for example, underestimated WC was associated with overestimated yields. In total, the sensitivity of models to spatially variable site conditions differed considerably. The importance of quality-assured soil and yield information for model improvement was highlighted.

ACS Style

Evelyn Wallor; Kurt-Christian Kersebaum; Domenico Ventrella; Marco Bindi; Davide Cammarano; Elsa Coucheney; Thomas Gaiser; Pasquale Garofalo; Luisa Giglio; Pietro Giola; Munir P. Hoffmann; Ileana Iocola; Marcos Lana; Elisabet Lewan; Ganga Ram Maharjan; Marco Moriondo; Laura Mula; Claas Nendel; Eva Pohankova; Pier Paolo Roggero; Mirek Trnka; Giacomo Trombi. The response of process-based agro-ecosystem models to within-field variability in site conditions. Field Crops Research 2018, 228, 1 -19.

AMA Style

Evelyn Wallor, Kurt-Christian Kersebaum, Domenico Ventrella, Marco Bindi, Davide Cammarano, Elsa Coucheney, Thomas Gaiser, Pasquale Garofalo, Luisa Giglio, Pietro Giola, Munir P. Hoffmann, Ileana Iocola, Marcos Lana, Elisabet Lewan, Ganga Ram Maharjan, Marco Moriondo, Laura Mula, Claas Nendel, Eva Pohankova, Pier Paolo Roggero, Mirek Trnka, Giacomo Trombi. The response of process-based agro-ecosystem models to within-field variability in site conditions. Field Crops Research. 2018; 228 ():1-19.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Evelyn Wallor; Kurt-Christian Kersebaum; Domenico Ventrella; Marco Bindi; Davide Cammarano; Elsa Coucheney; Thomas Gaiser; Pasquale Garofalo; Luisa Giglio; Pietro Giola; Munir P. Hoffmann; Ileana Iocola; Marcos Lana; Elisabet Lewan; Ganga Ram Maharjan; Marco Moriondo; Laura Mula; Claas Nendel; Eva Pohankova; Pier Paolo Roggero; Mirek Trnka; Giacomo Trombi. 2018. "The response of process-based agro-ecosystem models to within-field variability in site conditions." Field Crops Research 228, no. : 1-19.