Organic agriculture is found in Tuscany, as in the whole of Italy, and has notably increased in the last years. In our region, this kind of agriculture is often linked with ecological tourism and with agritourism which in Tuscany, traditionally rich in natural beauty and of rural idylls, has been very successful. The Regione Toscana, in order to promote and defend organic Tuscan products, has promoted and organised exhibitions, fairs and markets, web links, using the Azienda Regionale per lo Sviluppo e l' Innovazione nel Settore Agricolo e Forestale (ARSIA), overseeing control bodies. These jobs consist of check-ups, after a yearly plan, into the organising structures of the same control organism, which works on the whole regional territory. Now, in Tuscany, there exist 1331 farms, spread on all territory quite homogenously, with 482 just in the Siena area. Actually the number is yet too little compared to the number of traditional farms in this territory. In the commune of Montalcino, where our school is, for example, out of 180 Brunello producers, a very high quality wine which requires five years of aging, only twenty four are organic farms and most of them have only recently converted and are small. That's why we have chosen to visit an organic farm larger then usual and more experienced in to the sector, near Montalcino with the same environment typology with clay hills.

AN EXAMPLE OF ORGANIC AGRICOLTURE IN TUSCANY Organic farming of cereals in clayey land

The azienda Pieve A Salti occupies a total area of 1085 hectares, of which 633 (452 on the map) are used for the cultivation of cereals, beans, olives and fruit trees. The remainder is occupied by woodland. The azienda became organic in 1998, and is dedicated to the cultivation and the transformation of it's own products, to organic raising of it's own animals, with the added activity of the agritourism. The cultivation is based on a crop rotation system lasting between 7-10 years: 6-7 years of medicinal herbs, 1 year of hard wheat, 1 year of lower impact cereals (barley, spelt, oats), 1 year of beans, chickpeas or lentils, 1 year of soft wheat after which the cycle starts again with medicinal herbs (in this moment 178 ha. are employed in the cultivation of "erba medica", 32 in the cultivation of barley, and the remaining land is used for the cultivation of the other products). In this way the cultivated area doesn't lose the mineral substances but stays very well balanced, so it doesn't necessitate a big fertilisation. The farm is directly responsible for the processing of part of it's products, stone grinding the wheat, cold pressing the olives, while the remaining products are used for seeding and to feed the animals (flours, medicinal herbs) .

Even the waste products of the transformation are used to feed the animals (beef producing limousine cattle, horses and sheep), thus giving them a completely organic diet. The animals produce, apart from the meat, which is also processed autonomously at the farm, a variety of organic cheeses. Stables are present as an additional service for guests staying in the agritourism. Thanks to the cultivation of fruit trees, the farm produces organic jams, fruit purees and fruit juices. The commercialisation of the various products happens in minimal quantities directly in the farm and mostly through the big distribution chains of organic products of North-middle Italy, like Coop, Poli, Esselunga and Seven Supermarkets, exporting even abroad, especially in Spain, Argentina and Chile.

This system seemed to us particularly efficient because there are no wastes and there's no risk of contamination with un-organic products as the farm follows the products in each part of the process and provides to maintain his own activities (seeding, animal feeding), in fact, many of the neighbouring farms have decided to use organic agriculture to maintain relationships with this farm, and thus further limiting the risk of contamination. The reduction of the wastes and the enrichment of the terrain (and so lighter use of fertilizers) allows, also, to recuperate losses in the production compared to traditional agriculture (in 10 years of cultivation, only 1is of wheat). However the organic products aren't yet as competitive as traditional products. Furthermore, we have discovered another aspect that can raise doubts: The products of this farm which go to the wide distribution, are mixed with other products, organic, but coming from other countries, on which we have less safety controls. This convinced us even more that control and vigilance systems, in European as in any other country, have to be the as efficient as possible and not be conditioned by interests other than quality control and respect for environment.