The Three Waters Neorural District is born, a slice of territory between Milan and Pavia for rural development and environmental improvement.
The neorural agricultural district of the three waters of Milan takes its name from its borders identified with three important waterways in the western area of the Milanese provincial territory: to the west the Ticino river; to the north the Villoresi canal; to the south / south-east the Pavese canal; to the north / east the boundaries of the Municipality of Milan. The breadth of the district's reference territory connects farms from different areas that over the years have developed often different products and services, however referable to a single vocation that has been defined by the promoters through the drafting of a document of intent , the Manifesto of Neorural Farms.
The leader who has applied for accreditation is the Department of Agriculture of the Province of Milan. The territory identified for the district is very large and includes a total of 69 municipalities, mostly in the province of Milan and partly in that of Pavia. It is a fairly homogeneous area of agricultural, flat and irrigated land, land on which there are two regional parks (Parco del Ticino and Parco Agricolo Sud Milano) and two PLIS (Parco del Gelso and Parco del Roccolo).
The farms that have expressed an interest in establishing the district are in all 53 and are based for the most part, 36, in the Province of Milan (Abbiategrasso, Albairate, Basiglio, Besate, Busto Garolfo, Calvignasco, Casarile, Cassinetta di Lugagnano , Cisliano, Cuggiono, Lacchiarella, Magenta, Milan, Noviglio, Ozzero, Robecchetto with Induno, Robecco sul Naviglio, Rosate, Sedriano, Sesto San Giovanni, Vanzago, Vermezzo, Vernate, Vigevano, Vittuone, Zibido San Giacomo) and the other 17 in Province of Pavia (Cassolnovo, Cortolona, Giussago, Pavia, Rognano and Vellezzo Bellini).
The proposing farms have very large average surfaces (about 98 ha) and the prevalent cultivation is rice, just under half of the farms are livestock, there are cattle, pigs and fish farms. Many companies are already oriented towards multifunctionality: there are 13 agritourisms, 22 have points for direct sales, 29 transform company products, 10 organize environmental education courses.
The specific objectives of the district are:
1. allow and encourage the continuation of agricultural activities in the metropolitan area
2. encourage new income and employment opportunities for agricultural, forestry, primary processing and tourism businesses
3. encourage environmental and landscape improvement
4. increase e in online casinos document the food safety of agricultural production in the district area
5. improve the quality of the use of the rural territory by the population residing in the metropolitan area
6. to favor the conservation of rural buildings and their use for uses compatible with the continuation of the agricultural function and / or synergistic with the agro-environmental use of the territory
7. promote the recognition of the socio-economic role that metropolitan agriculture plays for the community, through the enhancement of the rural system, as a fundamental territorial protection against land consumption.
Specific actions are also identified to achieve the objectives:
- Promotion and coordination for the provision of agro-environmental services to public bodies;
- Enhancement of the rural building heritage;
- Coordinated promotion and enhancement of existing brands;
- Economic enhancement of spaces, structures and agro-environmental services offered by the district;
- Fund raising.
During the presentation press conference, the Provincial Councilor for Agriculture, Luca Agnelli, declared: “It is a new way of doing business. The farms that form a system, synergize with each other in a different way, and communicate with one voice with the other players in the area. The neorural district is made up of innovative, dynamic, multifunctional companies, which have shown that breaking away from conventional schemes allows you to increase income and jobs. The district intends to exploit that capital made up of landscape, history, culture, biodiversity that characterizes the rural environment of our province. "
Numerous representatives of public and private bodies interested in the project, present at the conference who, in their various interventions, underlined the strategic importance of the Neorural District of the Three Waters of Milan as a concrete and effective form of support and enhancement of agriculture territorial.
November 27, 2012
Province of Milan
Agriculture, Parks, Hunting and Fishing Department
Province of Milan