A return to tradition
Sustainable agriculture was established in response to environmental problems caused by the “green revolution” and other production methods having high environmental impacts (intense use of water, pesticides and chemical fertilizers). The world movement in support of sustainable agriculture has been defined “the true green revolution” precisely to highlight the contrast between these two production methods. Farming sustainably means promoting biodiversity, preserving the environment, preferring local productions, ensuring the respect of human rights of workers, safeguarding communities and guaranteeing economical sustainability of the agricultural system without leaving small farmers behind. One of the solutions adopted to control environmental impacts of modern agricultural production and thus to make agriculture more sustainable is the return to traditional methods of crop growing used in the past as, for example, biological agriculture or conservation agriculture. At the same time, the merge between traditional knowledge and new philosophies, from a sustainable perspective, has given birth to new techniques as integrated agriculture and biodynamic agriculture.
Special reports
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30 July 2020
Holidays, yes! but they must be sustainable!
We have been speaking of sustainable behaviours to apply to our daily life, but what happens when we unplug and…
2 July 2014
A hoax? No thank you, I prefer to find out myself!
In Italian, bufala: a hoax, also means a female buffalo...
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1 September 2019
What language does science speak?
Do you remember the game called “Chinese whispers”? All the participants had to stand in line and the game started…
15 September 2021
Can you be intelligent without a brain?
Can you be intelligent without a brain? The answer is "in a certain sense, yes" and this is demonstrated by…
26 July 2021
Japanese beetles and other alien species
There is a beetle that has been invading the Italian countryside and cities for some time now, a small insect…
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16 June 2021
A turtle’s life
World Sea Turtle Day is held on 16 June. First established in 2008, the day is now supported by Sea…
10 June 2021
The world below
Journey to the Centre of the Earth is a famous science fiction novel written by the great Jules Verne in…
29 April 2021
Etruscan shrews, ferocity in miniature
Which is the tiniest micromammal, i.e. the smallest mammal on the planet? Up until almost half a century ago, it…
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30 July 2020
Holidays, yes! but they must be sustainable!
We have been speaking of sustainable behaviours to apply to our daily life, but what happens when we unplug and…
-
2 July 2014
A hoax? No thank you, I prefer to find out myself!
In Italian, bufala: a hoax, also means a female buffalo...
1 September 2019
What language does science speak?
Do you remember the game called “Chinese whispers”? All the participants had to stand in line and the game started…
-
15 September 2021
Can you be intelligent without a brain?
Can you be intelligent without a brain? The answer is "in a certain sense, yes" and this is demonstrated by…
26 July 2021
Japanese beetles and other alien species
There is a beetle that has been invading the Italian countryside and cities for some time now, a small insect…
-
30 July 2020
Holidays, yes! but they must be sustainable!
We have been speaking of sustainable behaviours to apply to our daily life, but what happens when we unplug and…
-
2 July 2014
A hoax? No thank you, I prefer to find out myself!
In Italian, bufala: a hoax, also means a female buffalo...
From the Multimedia section
Facts
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CO2 “eating” trees
If a tree “eats” CO2 and produces oxygen it is easy to understand the importance it has in reducing the…
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Energy from palm trees
Oils that are obtained from palm trees can be used as alternatives to fossil fuels and their use is about…
The Christmas tree tradition
People tell that in Germany, at Christmas Eve, Saint Boniface cut an oak and in that place...
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The tree and the truffle
Truffles are hypogean (underground) fungi which grow in the presence of particular trees such as oaks, holm oaks and willows,…
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23 February 2012
CO2 “eating” trees
If a tree “eats” CO2 and produces oxygen it is easy to understand the importance it has in reducing the…
-
16 May 2011
Energy from palm trees
Oils that are obtained from palm trees can be used as alternatives to fossil fuels and their use is about…
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13 May 2011
The Christmas tree tradition
People tell that in Germany, at Christmas Eve, Saint Boniface cut an oak and in that place...
16 May 2011
The myth of olive trees
The ancients used to say: the Mediterranean begins and ends with...
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23 February 2012
CO2 “eating” trees
If a tree “eats” CO2 and produces oxygen it is easy to understand the importance it has in reducing the…