Organic grain legumes value chain for human consumption (Tuscany, Italy)

Legume farming in Italy is characterised by high-quality local production of legumes for food, forage and seed production. In cases of well-established value chains, legumes cultivation can represent a key strategy to increase profitability and sustainability of cropping systems especially in marginal areas. The development of legumes value chains in Italy can be fostered increasing the power on the market of producers.

The present case study focuses on a value chain for grain legumes for human consumption: mainly chickpeas and lentils. The case study consists of a network established in 2012 as a commercial agreement to face the increasing demand for organic and local products. The network is composed of eight farms with different sizes (between 25 and 350 ha), growing cereals and legumes organically, and supplying a niche market for local consumers. The Floriddia farm is the network leader and owns most of the processing facilities: the products coming from the other farms are purchased, processed and sold by Floriddia, directly to consumers. Such marketing strategy, based on a strong autonomy at a regional scale, aims at overcoming business risk due to the harsh pedological conditions and the extreme price fluctuations experienced in arable crop farming in the last few years.