
Claudia Di BeneCouncil for Agricultural Research and Agricultural Economy Analysis | CREA · Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment (CREA-AA)
Claudia Di Bene
PhD in Agriculture, Food and Environment
About
85
Publications
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Introduction
Additional affiliations
January 2019 - present
Council for Agricultural Research and Economics
Position
- Researcher
October 2017 - December 2018
June 2013 - September 2016
Publications
Publications (85)
Forests play a key role in the global carbon (C) cycle through multiple interactions between above-ground and soil microbial communities. Deeper insights into the soil microbial composition and diversity at different spatial scales and soil depths are of paramount importance. We hypothesized that in a homogeneous above-ground tree cover, the hetero...
Enhancing the reliability of literature reviews and evidence synthesis is crucial for advancing the transformation of agriculture and food (agri-food) systems as well as for informed decisions and policy making. In this perspective, we argue that evidence syntheses in the field of agri-food systems research often suffer from a suite of methodologic...
In agriculture, nitrogen (N) is a key element in plant nutrition that affects, both positively and negatively, the productive and qualitative results of the crop. Accurate quantification of nitrogen
levels is crucial for devising effective plant nutrition strategies. The objective of this study was to validate a novel method to estimate the N conte...
Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration in agricultural soils is an important tool for climate change mitigation within the EU soil strategy for 2030 and can be achieved via the adoption of soil management strategies (SMS). These strategies may induce synergistic effects by simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and/or nitrogen (N)...
Abstract
Sustainable agricultural soil management practices are key to restore, maintain
and improve soil health. The European Joint Programme for SOIL (EJP SOIL)
has identified twelve main soil challenges in Europe. To assess the potential
and eventually increase the adoption of soil-improving management practices,
it is necessary to know (i) the...
Sustainable agricultural soil management practices are key to restore, maintain and improve soil health. The European Joint Programme for SOIL (EJP SOIL) has identified twelve main soil challenges in Europe. To assess the potential and eventually increase the adoption of soil‐improving management practices, it is necessary to know (i) the current l...
Soil and crop management influence soil organic carbon (SOC), chemical composition, and overall soil quality. In a Mediterranean region, a study initiated in 1994 examined the long-term effects of conventional tillage (CT) versus no-tillage (NT) practices. Initially focusing on continuous durum wheat cultivation until 2009, the experiment later int...
Considering future tasks in soil health, resource management, and environmental protection, farmers are challenged to develop sustainable strategies for managing soil and land resources. In this study, the long-term sustainability of two fertilization strategies—current, with synthetic fertilizers (SYN) vs. conservative, with organic sources of nit...
Crop diversification practices (CDPs) are alternative strategies aimed to achieve sustainable cropping systems and food production overcoming the agro-environmental impacts of conventional cropping systems such as monoculture. Thus, this paper aims to improve the knowledge of implementing CDPs in different European pedoclimatic regions by assessing...
Considering future tasks in soil health, resources management and environmental protection, farmers are challenged to develop sustainable strategies for managing soil and land resources. In this study, the long-term sustainability of two fertilization strategies, - current, with synthetic fertilizers (SYN) vs conservative, with organic sources of n...
Adopting soil and crop management practices that conserve or enhance soil structure is critical for supporting the sustainable adaptation of agriculture to climate change, as it should help maintain agricultural production in the face of increasing drought or water excess without impairing environmental quality. In this paper, we evaluate the evide...
Climate-smart sustainable management of agricultural soil is critical to improve soil health, enhance food and water security, contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity preservation, and improve human health and wellbeing. The European Joint Programme for Soil (EJP SOIL) started in 2020 with the aim to significantly impro...
Climate-smart sustainable management of agricultural soil is critical to improve soil health, enhance food and water security, contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity preservation, and improve
human health and wellbeing. The European Joint Programme for Soil (EJP SOIL) started in 2020 with the aim to significantly impro...
Although the increased use of synthetic fertilizers has improved soil nutrient availability and crop productivity, it has also resulted in an increase in soil acidification which can be harmful to the long-term sustainability of agroecosystems. This is particularly the case for the 40% of arable lands worldwide that are naturally acid. As fertilize...
The intensification of agricultural systems has caused a noticeable impact on agro-ecosystem services. Thus, the adoption of more sustainable agricultural practices such as crop diversification and reduction of external inputs represent an alternative strategy to minimize the impacts of intensive agricultural systems to the environment. This study...
Agricultural intensification negatively affects the environment through soil degradation, loss of agrobiodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, and nutrient leaching. Thus, the introduction of crop diversification strategies and alternative management practices is crucial to re-design agricultural intensification systems. To better understand the con...
Carbon sequestration in agricultural soils is an important strategy to mitigate climate change which gained renewed attention in the EU soil strategy for 2030. Stimulation of soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration can be achieved via soil management strategies. However, these strategies may stimulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions such as nitrous...
Adopting soil and crop management practices that conserve or enhance soil structure is critical for supporting the sustainable adaptation of agriculture to climate change, as it should help maintain agricultural production in the face of increasing drought or water excess without impairing environmental quality. In this paper, we evaluate the evide...
Soil can play a primary role to address key global challenges, such as climate change mitigation and adaptation; ensuring food security and human livelihood; preserving ecosystem services, biodiversity and water quality. Nevertheless, identifying and addressing key soil challenges requires a cross cutting and tailored approach that considers local...
Agricultural intensification is a highly specialized agri-food system that has contributed to raising food production worldwide due to progress in agricultural machinery and technologies, the use of improved cultivars, and external inputs such as fertilizers, irrigation, and pesticides [...]
Mediterranean agriculture is markedly threatened by climate change and extreme events (drought and flooding). For the first time, the EPIC model was used in a long-term organic vegetable field experiment to evaluate the performance of agro-ecological practices, as adaptation and mitigation measures to cope with climate change in Southern Italy. The...
The role of soils in the global carbon cycle and in reducing GHG emissions from agriculture has been increasingly acknowledged. The “4 per 1000” initiative (4p1000) has become a prominent action plan for climate change mitigation and achieve food security through an annual increase in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks by 0.4 %, ( i.e. 4‰ per year)....
Simulation models represent soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics in global carbon (C) cycle scenarios to support climate-change studies. It is imperative to increase confidence in long-term predictions of SOC dynamics by reducing the uncertainty in model estimates. To do this, we evaluated SOC simulated from an ensemble of 26 process‐based C models b...
We are listed contributors in an FAO-authored book:
FAO. 2020. A protocol for measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification of soil organic carbon in agricultural landscapes – GSOC-MRV Protocol. Rome.
DOI: 10.4060/cb0509en
This document provides a conceptual framework and standard methodologies for the monitoring, reporting and verificatio...
The production of a biomass as a feedstock for biorefinery is gaining attention in many agricultural areas. The adoption of biorefinery crops (i.e., perennial cardoon) can represent an interesting option for farmers and can contribute to increase soil organic carbon stock (SOCS). The study aimed to assess the potential effect on long-term SOCS chan...
In the European Union, various crop diversification systems such as crop rotation, intercropping and multiple cropping, as well as low-input management practices, have been promoted to sustain crop productivity while maintaining environmental quality and ecosystem services. We conducted a data analysis to identify the benefits of crop associations,...
Simulation models represent soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics in global carbon (C)
cycle scenarios to support climate-change studies. It is imperative to increase confidence in long-term predictions of SOC dynamics by reducing the uncertainty in model
estimates. We evaluated SOC simulated from an ensemble of 26 process-based C
models by comparing...
In the last few decades, various crop diversification strategies and management practices have been promoted to improve or at least maintain environmental quality and agroecosystem services. We conducted a data-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of alternatives for crop diversification and environmentally friendly farming management for arable...
Soils perform several functions in delivering ecosystem services and soil thematic maps areuseful for environmental modelling, landscape planning, and management optimization. Thisstudy aimed at producing thefirst soil rooting depth map of Italy at 1:250,000 scale basedon the legacy soil maps, soil data and benchmark profiles, combined with the aux...
This study directly engaged stakeholders by public consultations to capture their practical knowledge of current farmer practices for promoting suitable diversified cropping systems in Italy. In particular, both rainfed-cereal and irrigated-cereal cropping systems were addressed. The consultations also aimed to investigate the interest of stakehold...
We conducted a data-analysis to evaluate the expected effects of the existing alternatives for crop diversification and environmentally-sound farming management for arable crops in four selected European pedoclimatic regions (Atlantic, Boreal and Mediterranean North and South), and typical cropping systems (fodder grains, leys and mixtures, autumn-...
As part of benchmarking actions at international level (FACCE-JPI project CN-MIP), the C-MIP action was initiated in 2016 to address the question of whether ensemble modelling could bring some improvement to the simulation of soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics. A multi-model ensemble with 25 process-based integrated C-N models was implemented to co...
As part of benchmarking actions at international level (FACCE-JPI project CN-MIP), the C-MIP action was initiated in 2016 to address the question of whether ensemble modelling could bring some improvement to the simulation of soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics. A multi-model ensemble with 25 process‐based integrated C-N models was implemented to co...
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is considered a proxy of soil health, contributing to food production, mitigation and adaptation to climate change and other ecosystem services. Implementing Recommended Management Practices (RMPs) may increase SOC stocks, contributing to achieve the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 21st Conference of...
The aim of this study was to assess yield and land productivity of tomato, durum and pea in rotation in three case studies carried out in the Mediterranean North region.
The aim of this study was to assess crop quality of tomato and durum wheat in rotation in three case studies carried out in the Mediterranean North region
The aim of this study is to compare durum wheat yield and quality, under conventional tillage/no tillage management and rotation/monocropping systems in a long-term experiment started in 1995. SOC stocks in topsoil and subsoil are also compared.
The effects of deficit irrigation (DI) on crop yields and irrigation water utilization efficiency (IWUE) for processing tomato are in contrast with each other. This study aimed at analyzing a set of field experiments with drip irrigation available for Mediterranean Italy in terms of marketable yields and IWUE under DI. Both yields and IWUE were com...
The occurrence of water shortages ascribed to projected climate change, especially in the Mediterranean region, fosters the interest in remote sensing (RS) applications to optimize water use in agriculture. Remote sensing evapotranspiration and water demand estimation over large cultivated areas were used to manage irrigation to minimize losses dur...
Diversified cropping systems
CS 5-6-7
• Diversification 1 (D1): leguminous crop in rotation (pea for food)
• Diversification 2 (D2): tomato as second crop in rotation after pea (multiple crops)
• Soil fertility management (D3): two organic fertilizer application rate (CS 5: pig slurry; CS 6-7: digestate)
CS 7-bis
• Diversification 1 (D1): introduct...
Italian participatory workshop with all partners and stakeholders to present the results of DIVERFARMING surveys in Italy. We're willing to define Italian preferences for crop associations and agronomic strategies by a multicriteria decision model.
WP2 Selection of sustainable diversified cropping systems
Task 2.5. Selection of the diversified cr...
Mediterranean rainfed cropping systems, mostly based on durum wheat (DW) monocropping for semolina production, or in succession with bare fallow (BF), could be highly responsive to climate change. We aimed to assess DW-based systems adaptation to climate change, in terms of yields, SOC (Soil Organic C) sequestration and GHG emissions, using EPIC mo...
The effects of systematic compost addition or cover cropping throughout the agricultural land of the Foggia province (Southern Italy) on the soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and the CO2-C emissions were predicted over a period of 20 years (1994–2013).
Therefore, the bio-physical model RothC10N was used in combination with spatially explicit input d...
A combined modeling-GIS platform was developed to estimate the long term soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and CO2 emissions with the IPCC Tier 3 approach, in relation to local soil properties and climate, land use (LU), and land use change (LUC). Arable rainfed (ACR) and irrigated crops (ACI), vines (VIN), olives (OLI), and grasslands (GL) were con...
This preliminary study summarizes the results of a nitrate leaching monitoring in two farms located in the Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) of the coastal sandy aquifer of Pianura Pontina, Sabaudia (LT).
The monitoring was performed by continuous measurement of piezometric levels of the groundwater aquifer and water sampling in selected wells of the a...
This study has reviewed 66 long-term experimental comparisons on Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) and tillage systems in Mediterranean arable crops (from 15 sites located in Greece, Italy, Morocco and Spain), with the aim to identify the biophysical and agronomic variables most associated with C sequestration rate. Data were organized in a dataset contain...
This preliminary study summarizes the results of a nitrate leach-ing monitoring in two farms located in the Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) of the coastal sandy aquifer of Pianura Pontina, Sabaudia (LT). The monitoring was performed by continuous measurement of pi-ezometric levels of the groundwater aquifer and water sampling in selected wells of the...
Mediterranean agricultural areas are dominated by cropping systems
based on winter cereals crops, summer irrigated crops, foragebased
systems, and mixed succession with bare fallow. Soil organic
carbon (SOC) is widely used to assess the environmental performance
of these cropping systems, since it is strongly influenced by management
practices and...
To assess the spatial and temporal dynamics of carbon (C) at regional scale induced by land use and soil type, we performed a simulation study, based on a bio-physical model (RothC10N) combined with a spatially explicit database including soil, land use and climate. RothC10N was linked to GIS and outputs were interpolated using Empirical Bayesian K...
Agricultural biodiversity and related agro-ecological measures could play a crucial role in the agro-ecosystems adaptation to climate changes, thus sustaining crop production. The objective of this study was to assess the suitability (and the best combination) of agro-ecological techniques as potential resilience strategies in organic horticultural...
Soil carbon sequestration is of special interest in Mediterranean areas, where rainfed cropping systems are prevalent , inputs of organic matter to soils are low and mostly rely on crop residues, while losses are high due to climatic and anthropic factors such as intensive and non-conservative farming practices. The adoption of reduced or no tillag...
In intensive agriculture, N supply often exceeds crop requirements, even in nitrate
vulnerable zones (NVZ). In farmland, the N surplus gives rise to NO3
´ leaching and consequent
groundwater pollution. The present study aimed at proposing measures to reduce N leaching and
hence improve N efficiency in a buffalo livestock farm located in the NVZ of L...
Mouldboard ploughing is known to accelerate soil organic matter (SOM) mineralization rate in Mediterranean regions. Long-term reduced tillage intensity potentially diminishes soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (STN) depletions. Here, we compared long-term no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) impact on SOC and STN sequestration ra...
Bioenergy crops play a key role in the current agricultural policies. Recently, changes in national and international policies promoted the use of renewable energy and several researches have been performed on the non-food chain. Large attention has been given to the economic-productive and energetic aspects of biomass crops, while few studies have...
Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria Soil organic matter (SOM) is of crucial importance for agricultural soil quality and fertility. At global level soil contains about three times the carbon stored in the vegetation and about twice that present in the atmosphere. Soil could act as source and sink of carbon, inf...
Relationships between above and below-ground communities in forests and how they affect and regulate biogeochemical cycles are of paramount importance. So far, few studies have combined the analysis of microbial communities and activity magnitude with forest services through measurements of GHG emissions (Brandt et al., 2014; Murugan et al., 2014)....
L’Unione Europea (UE), per rispettare gli impegni di riduzione delle emissioni di gas serra (Ghg) stabiliti a seguito del Protocollo di Kyoto (PK), ha di recente emanato la decisione n. 529 del 2013 (Gazzetta Ufficiale dell’Unione Europea, G.U. L 165), in cui vengono fissati alcuni criteri per contabilizzare le emissioni e gli assorbimenti di Ghg n...
Purpose
Concerns about global warming led to the calculation of the carbon footprint (CF) left by human activities. The agricultural sector is a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, though cropland soils can also act as sinks. So far, most LCA studies on agricultural products have not considered changes in soil organic matter (SOM)...
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from soils cause uncertainties within Agricultural LCA. N 2 O affects global warming and is esti-mated with IPCC guidelines, agroecosystem models or direct measurements. CERES-EGC model was used to estimate N 2 O emis-sions from faba bean and winter cereals grown in two trials (ICC and CIMAS) with different climates....
Soil conservation is an important issue for farming and environmental protection in Mediterranean areas. Hillside farming systems, based on winter cereals and legumes, are common in these areas and are the target of several environmental policies. Soil organic matter (SOM) is widely used to assess the environmental performance of these cropping sys...
The introduction of perennials in the Mediterranean crop rotations can have a positive effect on soil organic matter (SOM) concentration, thus improving the long-term sustainability of cropping systems, affected by the progressive degradation in soil fertility. Ramie [Boehmeria nivea (L.) Gaud.], a perennial herbaceous species used for its high qua...
In recent years, there has been an increasing interest from retailers, industries and environmental associations in estimating the life cycle of greenhouse gases emitted in the atmosphere from everyday products and services, also known as carbon footprint (CF). Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the most common methodology used to evaluate the environm...