Trentingrana cheese production: analysis of dairy systems
Keywords:
farming system, cluster analysis, mountain areas, dairy cattle, Trentingrana cheeseAbstract
This research aimed to study the relationships between livestock systems and typical products in the Trento Autonomous Province, a mountainous area of the Eastern Italian Alps. A total of 1111 dairy farms were censed in the province; a sample of 678 was surveyed collecting information on herd composition in terms of animal breeding and category, management system and quality of milk. Data were analyzed with a non-hierarchical cluster procedure that clustered farms into 6 types: modern farms with traditional feeding (86 farms); small farms with corn silage (51 farms); modern farms with unifeed and corn silage (63 farms); traditional small farms without summer pasture (146 farms); intensive farms (34 farms); traditional small farms (298 farms). The traditional system are able to maintain a greater animal biodiversity than the intensive ones, thanks to the farming of indigenous breeds. This group of farms is largely involved in the Trentingrana cheese production, a traditional long ripened cheese (DOP) of the area, whereas the intensive systems produce milk for large distribution. This study demonstrates that in the province there is a wide variability of livestock farming systems. Traditional systems which have an important role for maintenance of landscape and farmed biodiversity are strongly connected with the typical cheese production, and this association could help in maintaining their economic viability.
References
Aprea, E., Biasioli, F., Gasperi, F., Mott, D., Marini, F., Tilmann, D. M., (2007). Assessment of Trentingrana cheese ageing by proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry and chemometrics. Int. Dairy J., 17. 3. 226–234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idairyj.2006.02.008
Battaglini, L., Mimosi, A., Ighina, A., Lussiana, C., Malfatto, V., Bianchi, M. (2004). Sistemi zootecnici alpini e produzioni legate al territorio. SOZOOALP. 1. 42–52.
Bazin, G. (1995). Inégalités de développement agricole et politiques correctrices dans les zones de montagne et défavorisées communautaires INRA-Université de Paris X 185.
Campagne, P., Carrere, G., Valceschini, E. (1990). Three agricultural regions of France: three types of pluriactivity. J. Rural Stud., 6. 4. 415–422. https://doi.org/10.1016/0743-0167(90)90055-D
Cocca, G., Gallo, L., Sturaro, E., Dal Compare, L., Mrad, M., Contiero, B., Ramanzin, M. (2007). Relationships between livestock production systems and landscape changes in the Belluno province, eastern Italian alps. Proc. 58th Eur. Annual Meet. EAAP, Dublin, Ireland., 33.
Giupponi, C., Ramanzin, M., Sturaro, E., Fuser, S. (2006). Climate and land use changes, biodiversity and agri-environmental measures in the Belluno province, Italy. Environ. Sci. Policy. 9. 2. 163–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2005.11.007
Gusmeroli, F., Della Marianna, G. (2005). Conseguenze della riduzione e della sospensione del pascolo sul profilo floristico e sull’erosione superficiale in un nardeto alpino. SOZOOALP. 2. 97–103.
ISTAT, (2002). V Censimento generale dell’Agricoltura. Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, Roma.
ISTAT, (2007). Atlante statistico della montagna italiana. Istituto Nazionale di Statistica e dell’istituto Nazionale della Montagna.
MacDonald, D., Crabtree, J. R., Wiesinger, G., Dax, T., Stamou, N., Fleury, P., Lazpita, J. G., Gibon, A. (2000). Agricultural abandonment in mountain areas of Europe: environmental consequences and policy response. J. Environ Manage. 59. 1. 47–69. https://doi.org/10.1006/jema.1999.0335
Marini, L., Fontana, P., Klimek, S., Battisti, A. J., Gaston, K. (2009). Impact of farm size and topography on plant and insect diversity of managed grasslands in the Alps. Biol. Conserv., 142. 2. 394–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2008.10.034
Ottaviani, D., Ji Li, Pastore, G. (2003). A multidimensional approach to understanding agro-ecosystems. A case study in Hubei Province, China. Agr. Syst., 76. 1. 207–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0308-521X(02)00007-0
SAS (2006). Statistical Analysis System Proprietary Software. Release 9.1. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA.
Schmitzberger, I., Wrbka, Th., Steurer, B., Aschenbrenner, G., Peterseil, J., Zechmeister, H. G., (2005). How farming styles influence biodiversity maintenance in Austrian agricultural landscapes. Agr. Ecosyst. Environ., 108. 3. 274–290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2005.02.009
Sturaro, E., Cocca, G., Fuser, S., Ramanzin, M. (2005). Relationships between livestock production systems and landscape changes in the Belluno province. Ital. J. Anim. Sci., 4. Suppl. 2. 184–186. https://doi.org/10.4081/ijas.2005.2s.184
Sturaro, E., Cocca, G., Gallo, L., Mrad, M., Ramanzin, M. (2009). Livestock systems and farming styles in Eastern Italian Alps: an on farm survey. Ital. J. Anim. Sci., 8. 4. 541–554. https://doi.org/10.4081/ijas.2009.541
Usai, M. G., Casu Sara, Molle, G., Decandia, M., Ligios, S., Carta, A. (2006). Using cluster analysis to characterize the goat farming system in Sardinia. Livest. Sci., 104. 1–2. 63–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2006.03.013
Walther, P. (1986). Land abandonment in the Swiss Alps: A new understanding of a land use problem. Mt. Res. Dev., 6. 4. 305–314. https://doi.org/10.2307/3673371
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2010 Elisa Marchiori, Enrico Sturaro, Riccardo Dal Zotto, Maurizio Ramanzin, Giovanni Bittante
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
