Why wheat genetics matters Wheat is one of the pillars of global food security: it provides about 18–20% of calories and proteins in the human diet worldwide, with much higher shares in North Africa and Western Asia. Understanding how varieties evolve and which tools breeders use is crucial for yields, quality, and the resilience of …
From September 3 to 5, 2025, the EcoWheatItaly project was presented at the 22nd European Conference on Multi-Agent Systems (EUMAS 2025), hosted by the University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest (Romania), one of the most relevant European venues for research on distributed AI and agent-based simulation. Prof. Gianfranco Giulioni (University “G. d’Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara), together with Edmondo …
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The EcoWheatItaly project took part in the Social Simulation Conference 2025 (SSC 2025), hosted by the Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) from August 25 to 29, 2025 — one of the leading international events in the field of social simulation and agent-based modeling. Gianfranco Giulioni (University “G. d’Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara) presented the work, in …
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The EcoWheatItaly project was presented at the SIMULTECH 2025 – International Conference on Simulation and Modeling Methodologies, Technologies and Applications, hosted by the University of Deusto (Bilbao, Spain) from June 11 to 13, 2025. Representing the research team, Gianfranco Giulioni delivered the talk in the “Application Domains” session, entitled: “Modeling and Simulating the Italian Wheat …
The seed is the starting point of every harvest, and controlling its availability means wielding enormous power over global agricultural production. Over the past thirty years, the seed sector has undergone an unprecedented wave of consolidation, drastically reducing the number of independent players. From Farmers’ Seeds to Patented Seeds For centuries, farmers selected, saved, and …
Read more “Who Controls Wheat Seeds? The Role of Multinational Corporations”
Wheat is not only the raw material for bread, pasta, or pizza: it is also an indicator of how our food system functions. In recent decades, the wheat supply chain has become highly globalized: grains grown in Canada or Ukraine reach Italian mills, flours produced in Europe end up in baked goods in Asia, and …
Read more “From Field to Table: Short Wheat Supply Chains and Local Flours”
However, the growing threat of desertification is compromising the production stability of this strategic crop, with direct implications for food availability and global markets. Desertification, defined by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas due to climate factors and human activities, currently covers over …
Read more “Desertification and grain production: a fragile balance”
International grain trade is largely dependent on a complex and vulnerable maritime network. Routes connecting major global producers (such as Russia, Ukraine, the European Union, and North America) to markets in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa are often exposed to geopolitical, climatic, and logistical factors that affect their constancy and cost. Major Maritime Chokepoints …
The term food sovereignty is increasingly used in public discourse, often as a synonym for food self-sufficiency or agricultural protectionism. But in its original and scientifically grounded meaning, the concept is much broader and deeper—especially when it comes to strategic crops like wheat. What is food sovereignty?Food sovereignty was defined in 1996 by La Via …
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From 11 to 13 June 2025 we participated in the XXVII National Conference of the Italian Association of Agrometeorology (AIAM), entitled “Agrometeorology: from information to application”, hosted at the AMAP (Agency for Innovation in the Agri-food and Fisheries Sector of the Marche), Osimo (AN). The conference represented an important opportunity for interdisciplinary discussion on the …
Read more “The ECOWHEATALY project at the AIAM 2025 Conference.”