Soybean value chain with the Cooperative Terremerse (Province of Ferrera, Italy)

The soybean is mainly used for oil extraction and for fodder in feedstock. The soybean production in EU is still much lower than in USA, South America, China or India but it is constantly increasing in 2016, it represented 2.3 million tons, and the 47% of the total production was produced in Italy.

The case study will focus on the value chain for soybean production, working with Terremerse, a Cooperative across various production chains within the agri-food sector. One of its main national and international market areas are grain and protein food. Terremerse creates value for the soybean production in a sustainable manner with respect for the environment. It contributes to the increase of the soybean value paying particular attention to the development of organic products, providing assistance to its members in terms of spreading the most advanced agronomical techniques, collecting the product in new plants with specific structures for collection and storage. Terremerse follows up its soybean producers from production planning to marketing, including collection, storage and drying, monitoring the entire process. It guaranties constant supplies in terms of volumes, specific quality characteristics, traceability and certifications of productions, according to the principles of sustainability and food safety, obtaining in 2013 the European certification 2BSvs Std. 01, based on the French biomass biofuel, sustainability voluntary scheme 2BS, for the collection, storage and marketing of soybean. The characteristics of the soybean value chain will be evaluated in the project, in order to establish the knowledge base, the benefits, the constraints and the opportunities in the market.