Policies and Tools for the Sustainability of the Rural Territory

ATTENTION: BELOW IS REPORTED THE PROGRAM CARRIED OUT IN THE COURSE "POLICIES AND TOOLS FOR THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE RURAL TERRITORY" IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2022-2023 - These will be the exam contents for the entire academic year 2022-2023. In the academic year 2023-24, the program could undergo small or large changes, based on the responsiveness and interest of the students attending the course.
The exam program is the same for both attending and non-attending students

FIRST PART OF THE COURSE HELD BY PROF DANIELE CAVICCHIOLI
Introduction to the course: presentation of the structure of the course, the program and the teaching materials.
Why talk about rurality. Structural change, causes and outcomes of migration from rural areas. Considerations on the demographic dynamics between urban and rural areas. The three dimensions of rurality: conceptual, spatial and strategic.
The conceptual dimension of rurality: rurality as a function of geographical scale. Old and new interpretations of rurality. The evolution of city-countryside relations over time
Approaches to rurality. Classification methodologies of rural areas. Classification through the use of spatialized quantitative data. Cloke's Rurality Index. Territory classification according to OECD and EUROSTAT criteria.
Approaches to rurality based on models of economic development. Rurality according to the approach of socio-cultural differences. Rurality as a social-perceptive construct: the humanist approach.
Advantages and disadvantages of the main rural survey methods (quantitative and qualitative). The rural as an interpretative category and its stereotypes. The main characteristics of agriculture in northern Italy, starting from an example of a historical nature: the move of tenant farmer families upon expiry of the lease contracts.
SECOND PART: AGRICULTURE AND THE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM. The agricultural sector as manager of the non-urbanised territory. Differences between rural territory and agricultural sector. The birth of agriculture. Definitions of agriculture: practical, organic and ecological. Desirable and undesirable characters in wild and cultivated plants: the domestication of plants. Divergence between the needs of mankind and the characteristics of the natural environment: the concept of sustainability. Differences between wild and cultivated/farmed species: examples on plants and animals
Centers of origin of the domestication of the main cultivated plants. Classification (product and non-botanical) of the main crops, based on the macronutrient supplied. Crop sources of carbohydrates, concept of simple and complex sugars. Crops sources of proteins, concept of amino acid, nitrogen, and need to restore the nitrogen removed from plants to the soil. Methods of returning nitrogen to the soil. Legumes as nitrogen-fixing plants. The sources of fat. distinction between annual crops and perennial crops. Importance of fats for living beings. Concept of phospholipids and importance of phosphorus. Role of CO2 concentration in photosynthesis and resistance to water stress. Causal relationships between CO2 concentration in the atmosphere and atmospheric temperature.
Main livestock feed crops: Permanent forage crops and their role in maintaining soil organic matter. Livestock load intensity concept. Pastures, characteristics, location and their link with grazing activity. Consequences on pastures of the abandonment of grazing activity. Stable meadows, characteristics and location. Competition in land allocation between permanent grassland and arable land. Alternate forage crops, composition and characteristics. Annual herbaceous crops, shredded corn.
Forage systems with low and high livestock load intensity. Production and economic implications. Cycles of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) in agricultural systems. Soil cycle, cultivated plant, reared animal, animal manure. Importance of animal manure in closing the cycle of nutrients. Environmental implications of organic fertilizations. Classification of farm animals. Landless farms and nutrient cycles. Reasons behind the increase in the structural size of farms and agricultural businesses. Economies of scale in agricultural production: implications for agricultural income and the market price of agricultural products. Effects of economies of scale and technological innovation in agriculture on the price of agricultural products.
Economies of scale, technological innovation, agricultural production and agricultural income (profit): effects on the single farm, on the overall agricultural offer and on the market (producers and consumers) of agricultural products. Concept of external economies of scale. Agricultural activity as a cascade of matter and energy. Quantitative approach to agricultural production. Law of the minimum and factors limiting agricultural production. The soil (earth) as the center of sustainable agricultural production. Land (agricultural land) as the main limiting factor of agricultural production. Trends in population and arable land over time. Intensification, extensification and The concept of sustainable agricultural intensification. The three pillars of sustainable agricultural intensification: economic, environmental, social. Examples of technologies at the service of sustainable agricultural intensification: genetic improvement technologies, irrigation improvement, nutrient balance, integrated agriculture, conservation agriculture, precision agriculture.
Agricultural activity as an economic activity. Agricultural activity as a production process. The agricultural enterprise, classifications. Use of factors of production and firm size. Land as a company's long-term investment. Revenues, costs, income and profit: the balance sheet of the agricultural enterprise. The production possibilities frontier.

SECOND PART OF THE COURSE, HELD BY PROF. DANILO BERTONI
Introduction to agricultural policies: evolution of objectives and tools in relation to the degree of development
Introduction to the Community Agricultural Policy (CAP)
The first pillar of the CAP: evolution of the methods of support to the agricultural sector (price support, coupled direct payments, decoupled payments)
The green architecture of the CAP: conditionality, greening and eco-schemes, agro-environmental-climate measures
Rural Development Policies: genesis, evolution and tools
The CAP 2023-2027: Green Deal and From Farm to Fork, National Strategic Plan, direct payments
Seminar: The rural development supplement (CSR) 2023-2027 of the Lombardy Region
Seminar: Agriculture and protected areas: the case of the PANE Local Park of Supra-municipal Interest (North East Agricultural Park)