3E-UAVspray Partners

With approximately 120 locations spread across seven main campuses, high-level scientific research, and cutting-edge education, the University of Turin ranks as one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the Italian university landscape. The Faculty of Agriculture and its five affiliated Departments merged to form the Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences. On October 1st, 2012, the new Department took over from the Faculty of Agriculture, embracing its spirit, tradition, and responsibilities.

The Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Turin was founded in 1935, thanks to an agreement between the University and several local authorities that provided financial support. Unlike other locations where similar faculties emerged from the transformation of a Royal Higher Institute, this faculty was created from scratch.

Today, the Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences (DiSAFA) is located on the University of Turin's campus in Grugliasco, within the Città delle Scienze e dell’Ambiente, an area that offers ample space for research, teaching, and communication activities. The campus features study rooms, libraries, dining services, and green spaces available to students. The Cuneo and Alba (CN) sites also host educational activities, as do several experimental centers in the provinces of Turin and Cuneo. The Department operates across the full spectrum of its mission, supported by faculty and researchers covering all related scientific fields. 

DiSAFA's activities include the genetic improvement and physiology of cultivated plants and farmed animals; the interactions between soil, water, atmosphere, and plants; cultivation, livestock, and processing techniques of primary goods in relation to the environment and territories, including those aimed at energy production; sustainable management and planning of forest resources; crop protection; food characterization and agro-food supply chains; food processing technologies; the productive organization of agricultural and food enterprises and infrastructures; the design and management of assets and systems instrumental to agricultural activities; the conservation and enhancement of agricultural landscapes and green areas; economic and evaluative analyses in the agro-food sector; and the applications of engineering to processes, machinery, and plants in agriculture, forestry, and food industries. Resource efficiency, environmental sustainability, and circularity are always overarching elements.

The DiSAFA unit involved in the 3E-UAVspray project is Agricultural Engineering, specifically the Crop Protection Technology (CPT) research team.

The Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore is the largest Catholic university in Europe and the only Italian university with a nationwide presence, boasting five campuses: Milan, Piacenza, Cremona, Brescia, and Rome, where the “A. Gemelli” University Hospital is also located. The Faculty of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Sciences is based in Piacenza, in Northern Italy, and was established in the 1952-53 academic year. Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore is active in teaching academic courses and doctoral programs, participates in national and European research projects, and disseminates its findings through scientific articles and conferences.

Two UCSC departments are involved in the 3E-UAVspray project:

1. The Department of Food Science and Technology for a Sustainable Food Supply Chain (DiSTAS), which consists of a multidisciplinary research group capable of covering research topics across the entire agro-food supply chain and pursuing its sustainability.

Relevant research topics in the Agricultural Chemistry Area include:

• The assessment of residues and the environmental fate of agrochemicals and other xenobiotics: studies on adsorption/desorption, degradation, leaching, and volatilization.

• The development and validation, under GLP, of qualitative and quantitative analytical methods for the detection and quantification of agrochemicals, additives, and veterinary drugs in food and environmental matrices.

• The development of sustainability indicators applicable to optimizing the management of agro-environmental resources.

2. The Department of Sustainable Crop Production (DI.PRO.VE.S) is structured into three strongly characterized and integrated research areas (or Sections):

• Agronomy and Plant Biotechnology, with primary research focused on agronomy, the cultivation of herbaceous species, agricultural ecology, agricultural genetics, plant breeding, crop physiology, and general and systematic botany.

• Fruit and Viticulture, where research focuses on the genetic improvement, physiology, and cultivation techniques of the main fruit tree species and vines, with an emphasis on environmental and economic sustainability.

• Sustainable Plant and Food Protection, focusing on crop protection (agricultural entomology dealing with harmful and beneficial species, plant pathogens, the development of mathematical models for crop protection, and their use in decision support systems) and food safety (harmful arthropods, fungi, and mycotoxin contamination).