Introduction
The high number of local certified organic producers, which are currently over 600 (table 1), may be misleading: lots of producers do not reach the market yet (forage and vegetables). Market is still difficult to reach and producers are not properly assessed. In the recent years, this has implied a lower number of producers and, by contrast, a slight, yet significant, increase of processing firms (figure 1).
Materials and methods
Since 1999, the Department of Agriculture of the Province of Parma has been active to encourage the introduction of informatics equipment on-farm contributing to on-going projects. With Biologico.parma.it, the Province of Parma is trying to link web-oriented consumers and organic producers of Parma territory: a remarkable on-line mirror with a wide range of products, approx. 30 available organic categories. The provincial Council has implemented several initiatives: participation in national fairs in 2004 and 2005 is certainly of the highest importance; yet there is more.
Table 1: Number of organic holdings in Emilia Romagna and Parma - 2006
|
|
Emilia Romagna Region
|
Parma
|
%
|
|
Organic holdings
|
1956
|
403
|
21
|
|
Holdings in conversion to organic farming
|
423
|
87
|
21
|
|
Partly in-conversion units or holdings
|
756
|
86
|
11
|
|
Total holdings
|
3135
|
576
|
|
|
Transformers
|
880
|
104
|
12
|
|
Others
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
|
Total amount
|
4017
|
680
|
|
Figure 1: Distribution of regional and local organic holdings
Source: Emilia Romagna Region – Department of Agriculture - 2006
Institutions have strongly supported enforcement of EC rules, so that massive economic resources could be used, which would have been wasted, otherwise.
Local organic associations have been created i.e. Neviano Organic Oasis, Valtaro Valceno Organic Quality Cattle Breeders Consortium, and Organic Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium.
Chief objective is to make Biologico.Parma a tool to support direct sale through short supply chain. Certified raw material transferred to processing firms, belonging to the area, may be a mutual cognitive process and as well as producing integration among firms on provincial and national stage. The opportunity of the organic website is offered to those farms that are quite familiar with modern informatics equipment, after due considerations. Adhesion data confirm the above: 80% have an e-mail; 30% a web site. Fast information updating means high consideration for web-consumers. The site, however, includes less than 10% of organic farming and food firms in Parma area and almost the entire range of those firms that work for final consumers (cheese, cold cuts, honey, eggs, vegetables, jams, bread, various flours, and meat).
The web site has a 3-section structure: news, information, producers. The portal design is based on two criteria: easy researching and rational placement of numerous technical and commercial details. Azienda Agraria Sperimentale Stuard (www.stuard.it), an Agro-Experimental Farm in Parma supported by the Council of agriculture, carried out this initiative financed by the Emilia Romagna Region (Regional Law n. 28/98) .
Results & Discussion
Results achieved are remarkable and various. The website is unique in its nature because of the huge range of technically farm-describing details. Statistics report over 59,000 visits in 2006 and 18,134 visitors and in 2007 more than 85,000 shots and 21,000 visitors. The Home Page, the internal search engine and the “Map Search” are mostly visited. The domain ranking is elevated: if you look for the word “biologico” on the main research engines, the web site regularly ranks top. Operators have learned of the web site during fairs and meetings on organic topics. The section „Contact us“ is a space for those visitors having direct questions or want to say something about the site and the companies or know about future events. Because PortaleParma (the portal of the Province of Parma) was awarded in 2006 as the best national web site in its category and Biologico.parma is part of it, this means an indirect acknowledgment. A geographical database, also including local organic farms, will be carried out in the next months. It’ll help consumers get information on farm holidays, organic producers and farmers markets of the local area
Conclusions
The experience Biologico.parma originates from massive informatics divulgation of Parma farming status, the determination to create easy-to-use web equipments and to involve farms so that Internet is an appropriate and useful instrument to make their experience (often unique) known. Participation in fairs, publicity, general information, and exchange of experiences are essential to improve the portal promotional ability and to assure thorough and correct information. Organic practices produce, also, a profound external benefit: the conservation of diversity.
