Regional Institute of Wine and Oil

Agronomists' Congress, IRVO focuses on PGI oil

“Sicily, a continent of excellence: opportunities and development”. This is the title of the 6th Regional Congress of the Order of Agronomists and Forestry Doctors which was held in the Agrigento area, in Sambuca di Sicilia, the most beautiful village in Italy.

A three-day event, from 18 to 20 November, dedicated to identifying actions and strategies aimed at local development and social cooperation in agriculture with sector experts and national and regional institutions. IRVO was also present with its general director, Vincenzo Cusumano: “The figure of the agronomist – he began – is central in this moment of turning point in Sicilian agriculture towards the themes of innovation and sustainability”.

The emphasis was then placed by Cusumano on the "world" of oil: "The new OCM programming has provided for the encouragement of training and communication initiatives regarding Sicilian oil. It is a strategic lever for the promotion of the entire regional agri-food basin, being the basis of the Mediterranean Diet, recognized as a world heritage site by UNESCO. Sicily – continues the director – has already obtained important results on the certification of PGI Sicilia oil, arousing interest among producers and millers, reaching a request for submission equal to one thousand and 100 production units in the supply chain”.

Hence the importance of accessing European resources to finance "new research and innovation processes, the implementation of quality regimes which, - concludes Cusumano - alongside the protagonists of the territories, will continue to represent the bases on which to aim for a effective reference to Sicily in communication processes on food and the human management of the planet's resources".