TA expands its crop monitoring, moving its first steps in rice with a new KSA project from the European Space Agency

A kick-off telecon with the ESA Project Officer marked yesterday 23rd August the beginning of a new Kick-Start project awarded to TA by the European Space Agency. The new project, named Vialone from the name of a famous Italian variety of rice, aims at establishing a joint monitoring system of rice fields from space, both within the EU and abroad, to understand the market dynamics and help protecting domestic production of organic rice by forecasting international trade patterns. Rice is a traditional crop in our area, and it is facing a risk of being left behind as a consequence of low-cost rice imports; focussing on organic rice represents a way for local growers to differentiate, keep the tradition alive and preserve the know-how.

The project will last 6 months and its results will be disseminated through various channels.