Italy’s National Association of Nursery Stock Exporters ANVE hosts the XVI National Day of the Mediterranean Nursery Stock Industry

In association with Italy’s Home for Agricultural Knowledge CNPAPAL, Bari’s Order for Agronomists and Foresters (ODAF Bari), and Italy’s National Association for Agronomists CONAF, the National Association of Nursery Stock Exporters (ANVE), hosted the XVI National Day of the Mediterranean Nursery Stock Industry. The venue of choice was the Mediterranean plant nursery, Vivai Capitanio, in Monopoli. ANVE hails the one-day Climate Risk Management’ themed conference on Saturday, 25 May 2024, a resounding success with record-breaking attendance and (social) media coverage.

Leonardo Capitanio, owner and director of Vivai Capitanio, and ANVE president Luigi Pagliani delivered welcome speeches.

Senator Patrizio Giacomo La Pietra, unable to attend in person, delivered a video message. He underlined the importance of the horticultural sector and the current Government’s commitment to creating a legal framework that clearly defines the industry, providing political and institutional legitimacy to a sector that has long asked for it.

Capitanio, who is also AIPH President, praised the organisers for choosing the ‘climate risk management theme’, reassuring the audience of the Ministry’s commitment to fighting climate change.

He also highlighted the value of the annual Stefano Capitanio Graduating Awards, which recognise the brilliant students who are here to solve the next generation’s challenges with vision and inspiring business ideas.

Oronzo Milillo, president of ODAF, CNPAPAL’s Giorgio Bozzi, and Angelo Annese, Lord Mayor of Monopoli, had also prepared welcome messages.

Next, agronomist Gianluca Buemi, who masterly moderated the event, announced keynote speaker Antonio Frigioni. Frigioni is a climate scientist and entrepreneur.

He presented Hypermeteo, an innovative startup that processes high-resolution datasets and scenarios for meteorological and climate change monitoring, and Radarmeteo, an innovative SME that develops platforms and services for managing meteorological-climatic operations.

His ‘Climate change in the Mediterranean’ speech highlighted the rise in temperature and the variation in the rainfall regime, focusing on Radarmeteo’s tools for adapting to climate change.

Subsequently, Antonio Martella, president of CESAR (Centre for Agricultural and Rural Development), discussed the management of agricultural risk within the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy), illustrating the progress of the Italian system and the initiatives to simplify the procedures of access to insurance policies, especially for companies in the Centre-South. He also presented the National Catastrophe Adversity Mutual Fund (AGRCAT), a new tool to compensate for damage caused by frost, drought and floods.

Nilton Meoni, owner of insurance company AIB—All Insurance Broker,  discussed the figures and outlook for its 2024 campaign. He recalled the growing importance of horticultural companies protecting their assets against climate damage, underlining the evolution of specific insurance policies for the nursery sector.

Patrizia Angelini, deputy general director of BCC Alberobello, Sammichele, and Monopoli, highlighted the perks and challenges of risk management and access to funds. She reiterated the importance of relaunching floriculture in Southern Italy through concrete management of access to credit methods.

Stefano Capitanio Graduating Awards.

The conference concluded with announcing the annual Stefano Capitanio Graduating Awards winners.

Each year, ANVE invests money in graduate students and the research they are pursuing. The Stefano Capitanio Graduating Awards are in remembrance of ANVE’s late co-founder, Stefano Capitanio. They are intended to recognise and reward top-achieving horticultural students and encourage them to continue their studies.

The winning theses, selected by the technical jury, including Barbara De Lucia of the University of Bari, included:

• Three-year category: Roberta Cassataro of the G. d’ Annunzio Chieti – Pescara – three-year degree course in economics and management – presenting the ‘Implementation of a management control system: The Vivai De Laurentiis case’ thesis.
• Master’s Category: Giulia Savoretti of Pisa University – master’s degree course in design and management of urban green areas and landscapes- presenting the ‘Greenways as a sustainable response to the growth of cities’ thesis. This is a case study of the design competition for redeveloping the road axis via de Barberi in Grosseto.

The event ended with a group photo, testimony to the success of the XVI National Day of the Mediterranean Nursery Stock Industry.