The first Truffle chain in Umbria
It is the first time in the world that the concept of “Chain” is used in relation with the Truffle sector. The “Chain” traces as a whole all phases and events that tell about the course of a finished product: production – harvest – processing.
Giuliano Tartufi, thanks to Regione Umbria’s support, created a real Chain in order to strengthen the product territoriality, to support the production of Truffle in Umbria but also and above all, to fight against climate change that in the last few years has been endangering the natural Truffle provision. Our Chain’s target is one and only: to make producers and manufacturing companies the absolute protagonists of this sector, bringing Umbria to the leadership in Italy and in the world.
71 agricultural firms, with their 122 acres, will be working together with Giuliano Tartufi as the leader, to set up in the city of Pietralunga a true Truffle plantation, lasting 10 years: 5 years are needed to grow the plants and other 5 years are necessary to enhance the cultivation increasing consequently the potentiality of picking. The Chain is called “Engaged for 10 years”. This brand is promoted by Giuliano Tartufi, an Umbrian manufacturing company strongly bound with its territory, whose 122 acres of cultivation will be summed up to the current 180 acres of natural areas and to 5 acres of private cultivations, with 500 Truffle Hunters cooperating to ensure the supply of raw material to the renowned specialized Umbrian company.
“Engaged for 10 years”: this name has been chosen not only because of the time period required for the harvest development, but also because Giuliano Tartufi will be committed for 10 years to buy all Truffles coming from his collaborators’ 122 acres, assuring them the possibility of making their harvest fruitful, by adding a value that is more and more hard to guarantee because of the climate conditions: a 100% Umbrian origin.
The various steps of the project go through a thorough series of actions aimed at building the foundations of a healthy, precious and long lasting harvesting.
- Analysis of micro-biological and pedoclimatic conditions of the ground.
- Setting up a fencing: the main function of the fencing is to protect the truffle-generating plants as when they are young and particularly palatable for various species of fauna. Eventually, when the truffle ground enter production, the fence will prevent possible damages and truffle heists.
- Planting truffle-generating plants.
- Installation of an irrigation system aimed to overcome periods of severe drought, which implications are hard to foresee from year to year. Waters devoted to support climatic changes must come from natural springs and sources, in order to maintain their oligo-elements and mineral salts naturally contained in non-treated water, helping therefore its symbiosis with spores present in the ground and on the tree roots.
- Weeding: in the first step of the project, the function of weeding is to prevent weeds to subtract energy and important resources from the small plants that are attaching to the soil; weeding also helps the development of shallow roots that, further to creating symbiosis with truffle, cooperate to the absorption of elements and water necessary to the truffle generating plant to develop and grow healthy and strong, thus avoiding pathologies that could affect its existence and, consequently, inhibiting or compromising the production.
- Mulching: this is a protection system around the tree, aimed to maintain humid and pedoclimatic necessary conditions. Mulching is often made of a mixture of limestone and truffle spores. Further to preserve the microclimate, it allows the development of other spores, while the limestone is considered a fundamental nourishment for the plant.
Truffle is a hypogeum mushroom. This means that it is born, lives an grows underground, sometimes very deep into. Truffle comes from the symbiosis within trees, oligo-elements, mineral salts and natural microbiology spawned by roots, trees, light and climate. Up today, there is no exact science allowing us to cultivate truffles foreseeing the possible harvest. That’s because it is not just a matter of planting, but of conveying together a number of natural elements that should help its development. As most part of the harvest comes from natural areas, its rare availability makes it a high luxury product, subject to fluctuations of price and supply year after year.
The first years of Truffle cultivation are fundamental, particularly the first five years. Actually, we grow the tree, and if we to this well, it will produce the delicious truffles.
Growing the tree, we will participate and collaborate to let the symbiosis relation be created and strengthened with our actions that, if correctly carried out with perseverance, will give us the sought-after truffle productions that are never really certain.
“Engaged for 10 years” project is thus going to bring innovation even from the technology and sustainability point of view, to make local cultivation more and more active and fruitful.
