In 2012, together with our two historic partners Cooperativa Madonna d’Itria and Consorzio del Sinis coop Agricola, we created the first Sardinian cereal enterprise network called Filiera del Grano Duro coltivato e trasformato in Sardegna (Supply Chain of Durum Wheat cultivated and processed in Sardinia), which offers products for a balanced diet through a careful selection of raw materials.
Fondazione Istituto Tecnico Superiore Filiera Agroalimentare della Sardegna is a Sardinian higher education institute with a high level of technological specialisation in the agrifood sector. It aims to train highly qualified ‘supertechnicians’ in the various branches of the agrifood sector: production, processing, trade marketing, marketing, logistics.
ITS TAGSS – Filiera agroalimentare della Sardegna is one of the 98 ITS (Technical Colleges) that represent the first Italian experience offering tertiary vocational training according to a system that has for some years been consolidated in other European countries. Established in 2010 to train higher technicians in strategic areas for economic development and competitiveness in Italy, they are high-tech schools closely linked to the production system that prepare specialised middle managers to govern and exploit the potential of Industry 4.0 solutions. Young people and adults with a secondary education diploma, after selection, are eligible to enter an ITS. According to MIUR 2018 monitoring data, one year after receiving an ITS qualification, job placement is 82%. Better than University: 68% for three-year degrees and 71% for master’s degrees.
The added value of the ITS TAGSS pathways lies in the involvement, at all stages of the training pathway, of regional and national production realities belonging to the agrifood supply chains and research, innovation and development processes.
The scope of the project idea relates to the cereal supply chain and has productivity and sustainability as its objectives.
From a productivity point of view, it is expected to:
- strengthen ‘peer-to-peer’ cooperation and vertical dialogue between the subjects of the Operational Group by proposing it as a polariser of business and intelligence
- share means, tools and knowledge of research to modernise, economise and facilitate processes, knowledge and territorial rediscovery (‘retro-innovation’ of recipes, processed products and plant varieties)
- innovate the methods of projection onto the local, EU and international market (marketing, translations, market research)
- rediscover and capitalise on the territory, ancient crops and historical recipes, provide them with certifications and capitalise on them within a medical-nutritional framework accompanied by talking labels and communication of the right price to the consumer
- introduce precision technologies in cultivation to increase productivity and sustainability
Similarly, from the point of view of sustainability, it is planned to:
- act on mitigating and adapting to the climate change and desertification underway, with the use of conservation agriculture techniques, the selection, stabilisation (self-production) and implementation of hardy, ancient and resistant varieties or the selection of crosses and new varieties with participatory genetic improvement processes (also useful from a medical-nutritional point of view)
- work in cooperation with research and experimentation facilities, consultants and experts to interface with operator practice in order to stabilise productivity and manage natural disasters, also by implementing meteorological monitoring
- monitor and calculate environmental results and arrive at common solutions, to be capitalised on with the consumer
in conclusion
These objectives and activities promote innovation and environmental awareness and an efficient use of resources in production areas to stabilise agri-food and biomaterial production by adapting to and mitigating climate change, intervening in the relationship with research, consultants and local communities with the exchange of ideas and practical corrections for in situ use and large-scale production, creating added value and raising awareness for research into new innovations, thereby fully achieving the transversal objectives of innovation of PST Sardegna 2012-2020
