Its inclusion in the National Registry of Agrobiodiversity represents an important step towards the safety of a unique heritage
In order to safeguard agricultural biodiversity, the Tuscany has included the “Aglione della Valdichiana” in the Regional Directory and in the National Registry of Agrobiodiversity. Today there are more than 700, out of a total of 880, varieties of fruit, vegetables, cereals, native fodder and animal breeds of Tuscany that, risking to disappear, the Region tries to safeguard with a system based on the action of custodian growers and on the germplasm banks.
“The path has been interesting – explains Stefano Biagiotti, scientific responsible of the project – thanks to the studies that have been carried out and to the in-depth studies that have stimulated also the Umbria Region to the registration of this cultivar in its repertories. Now we will have to create a network of custodian growers who will have the task of preserving the cultivar in their farms and in different germplasm banks of Tuscany. With this characterization we put another step to demonstrate the origin of this product to which producers and consumers aim, having already started the path to propose the Dop/Igp (Pdo, Protected Designation Origin and Pgi, Protected Geographical Indication) certification linking even more the Aglione to the production area”.
Best known as a condiment for the famous Tuscan pici dish, but already known as a traditional food product on a national level, the Aglione della Valdichiana is a local variety not to be confused with garlic. Saved by some local farmers of the Tuscan and Umbrian Valdichiana, it has only recently been rediscovered, recovered and enhanced by farmers and local authorities and their associations and consortia, however it is still at risk of extinction.
