Sharing its journey with the research community has always been one of the values upon which Smarties.bio builds its identity. It is precisely with this in mind that Andrea Ghedina held a seminar at the University of Bari (UniBA), hosted by the horticulture and biodiversity group led by Prof. Santamaria of the Dipartimento di Scienze del Suolo, della Pianta e degli Alimenti (Di.S.S.P.A.), to present the Smarties.bio project to professors, researchers, students and farmers.
A biodiversity-driven seed company
At the heart of the presentation was the history and mission of Smarties.bio: a seed company that places the safeguarding of agricultural biodiversity at the centre of the way it works. Not just production, but a genuine scientific approach to plant breeding, combining the conservation of local varieties with the search for seed solutions capable of meeting the needs of professional horticulture.
Seed and service: a commercial outlook also focused abroad
Another central point of the seminar was the “seed and service” model that characterises Smarties.bio’s activities: not simply a seed supplier, but a partner that supports the producer with technical expertise and ongoing assistance. An approach that goes hand in hand with an increasingly commercially oriented vision that also looks to foreign markets, where genetics and seed quality make the difference in varietal selection.
The visit to the Bari Germplasm Bank
The day continued with a visit to the Bari Germplasm Bank (CNR) and to the experimental farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, the “P. Martucci” Centro Didattico Sperimentale in Valenzano (BA), a valuable opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the work of conserving plant genetic resources carried out by Italian research institutions, a fundamental heritage for those who, like Smarties.bio, work every day on varietal selection.
A meeting held as part of the Liveseeding project
The initiative is part of the activities of the European Liveseeding project, of which Smarties.bio is a partner as a member of Rete Semi Rurali. Liveseeding has long promoted meetings such as this because it believes in the value of direct dialogue between academic research, biodiversity conservation institutions and production businesses in the seed sector: only by bringing different areas of expertise together is it possible to build a more resilient, diversified seed supply chain that is focused on the future of agriculture.
With the aim of creating “networks of networks”, Smarties.bio’s contribution was useful to share its experience with the “forthcoming” seed company that will be formed by PhD students and researchers from the UniBA Faculty of Agriculture, who will carry forward the legacy of the BiodiverSo project for its possible commercial development outside the academic world.
Our thanks go to Prof. Santamaria and the entire horticulture group of the University of Bari for their warm welcome and for the constructive exchange, and to Riccardo Bocci, director of Rete Semi Rurali, for creating this opportunity for dialogue. Opportunities like this confirm how much collaboration between research, institutions and businesses is the right path for continuing to cultivate biodiversity. 🌱