Caratterizzazione dei terreni agricoli come strumento marketing e valorizzazione del terroir

Several investigations have been carried out on the soils of different types of agricultural (wines, apples) and spontaneous products (mushrooms) by means of portable instruments. The results allowed to characterize the soil-lithology, -mineralogy and chemistry, as well as to produce detailed geochemical maps for the main macro- and microelements. The results will be related with the main organoleptic characteristic of the crops. The first importan result was reached with the realization of the “geologic label” of the product, whose informations will be available and consultable by means of a QRcode printed in the label of a ligurian wine from the Cinque Terre (La Spezia) and Airole (Imperia) areas. The applications of our investigation method may be useful for the following purposes: crop and product certification; terroir valorization (with particular emphasis to the geological features of soils and production areas); integration of data for the agronomic management; incrementation of data for food security; individuation of compositional peculiarities and soil attitudes for the recovery of derelict and uncultivated land; understanding of environmental dynamics (environmental monitoring). Finally, the enhancement of the concept of “terroir” may have positive effects for the enhancement of the marketing (in terms of products and territory), for the development of agricultural and forest lands, and also for tourism purposes.