Bologna University was host to the IENICASymposium for Southern Europe in May, focusing onregional developments and opportunities forindustrial crops and creating a forum for internationalcollaboration. The Symposium attracted over 100delegates, with sessions covering dyes and colourants,natural fibres, industrial oils and green chemistry.Keynote speakers included Melvyn Askew, co-ordinator of the IENICA project, and Sandro Palmieri,Section Director of the Research Institute forIndustrial Crops in Bologna. The speakerpresentations from the conference, and some posters,are available on the IENICA website (www.ienica.net).Gianpietro Venturi, organiser of the conference and

Head of the Department of Agro-environmentalSciences and Technologies (DiSTA) at BolognaUniversity, opened the symposium and welcomed alldelegates to Italy. In his opening address ProfessorVenturi stressed the need for more research in theindustrial crops field and to disseminate thisinformation to pull down the barriers to development,through conferences such as this. Melvyn Askewreinforced this view in his outline of the IENICAproject, which seeks to create synergy within the EUindustrial crops industry and facilitate interaction and

interchange of information, through the organisationof technology transfer conferences and seminars suchas this.

Sandro Palmieri suggested that new technology isimproving and benefiting the industry. Greenchemistry, for example, is helping to develop new andimproved crops, and bio-refining and new extractiontechnologies can add value by generating manyproducts. The 'reverse micelles' extraction technique,for example, can obtain glucosinolates, oils, proteins,bio-active peptides etc. from crambe seed.

Graziano Ceddia, of the Central Science Laboratory inthe UK, also presented a keynote paper and discussedthe potential for industrial crops to manage on-farmrisk. He has found that where the diversity of farmenterprises is increased (i.e. by incorporatingindustrial cropping) the variability of the farmers'income is decreased. This allows the farm system towithstand variability, provides insurance against riskand is a step towards agricultural sustainability.

In his keynote paper, Guido Reinhard of the Institutefor Energy and Environmental Research in Germany,warned that 'green' products are not necessarilysynonymous with 'environmentally friendly'. LifeCycle Analysis (LCA) can be used to assess the overallimpact of a material, and biobased products may havenegative implications. LCA of hydraulic oil fromrapeseed, for example, as opposed to crude oil, mayshow positive contributions in terms of thegreenhouse effect and energy demand butdisadvantages for acidification, eutrophication andozone depletion.

The first focussed session covered dyes and

Non-Food Crops: From Agriculture to Industry - International South European Symposium

Source: Dr. Stefano Panconesi

Harvesting Giant Reed (Arundo donax L.)Source: P. Venturi & W. Huisman

colourants. Whilst the environmental benefits ofnatural dyes were stressed it was noted that the rangeof natural colours is limited and consistency of thefinal product is difficult to achieve (although thisvariability can also be considered desirable).

Natural fibres were discussed over two specialistsessions and included papers on hemp, flax and kenaf,as well as market-focussed presentations on thetextile, automotive and building industries and paperson many aspects of the production chain, includingharvesting, pretreatment and storage. MariaTalarczyk, from the Institute of Natural Fibres inPoland, outlined the main applications forlignocellulosic fibrous raw materials as being intextiles, pulp and paper, composites, fine chemicalsand energy, and suggested that more attention shouldbe given to health and comfort features,biodegradability and eco-response and socialrepercussions, especially in rural areas. Mrs Talarczykalso outlined the work looking at the production of'biosilk': precisely specified polymers produced usingthe molecular structure of spider silk. Some researchhas looked into using genetically modified goats toproduce milk rich in spider silk proteins that can bespun into fibre, and other work, in Europe, has usedgenetically modified potatoes in a similar way.Additionally, it was noted that bast fibre plants canalso provide valuable by-products, for use aspharmaceuticals, cosmetics etc. and the plantsthemselves can be valuable in cleaning up heavymetals from polluted soils.

Claudio Botta described the work of the Italian HempConsortium, which aims to exploit and revive hempcultivation in Italy. It looks at agronomy andharvesting, and the economic profitability for farmsand manufacturing companies, and has succeeded inincreasing the area of hemp from 50 hectares in 2001to nearly 1000 hectares in 2003. In Autumn 2003 aplant for hemp processing will begin operations andthe next steps are to widen and consolidate the hempchain from niche to industrial production.

The specialist session on industrial oils covered arange of oil crops, including sunflower, rapeseed andBrassica spp., and looked at both the agronomic and

industrial aspects of oilseeds. The properties of the'perfect' vegetable oil for industry were discussed byPaolo Bondioli, of the Stazione Sperimentale per leIndustrie degli Oli e dei Grassi, and not only shouldthey be completely biodegradable, they must also becheap, readily available, a liquid down to -50oC andresistant to oxidation, hydrolysis and heating. It wasrecognised that this combination of characteristics isimpossible to achieve and so the final destination forthe material must be fully understood, to produce a'tailor-made' product which fulfils specificrequirements.

The potential for erucic acid cultivation in SouthernEurope was discussed and, whilst a number ofBrassica spp. offer a high erucic acid yield, problemsexist in terms of temperature needs, low adaptabilityto different environments, cross pollination, breedingdifficulties and the absence of many specific andselective herbicides. The introduction of Brassicaceaein S. Europe therefore depends upon knowledge ofthe cultivation environment and plant needs, but doesprovide an interesting opportunity.

The final specialist session of the symposium focussedon green chemistry and included overviews of thecosmetics and pharmaceutical sectors, plantprotection and essential oils. Marco Versari discussedNovamont's starch-based bioplastics - Mater-Bi, whichinclude complexed, destructurized, andthermoplastically processable starch. Applications forthe materials include tyres, films, foams, injectionmoulding etc., for use in composting, packaging,hygiene, agriculture, catering etc.

The symposium proved to be extremely successfuland our thanks go particularly to Gianpietro Venturifor organising such an interesting and enjoyableprogramme and conference. We are also very gratefulto the local organising committee, the scientificcommittee and the staff of Avenue media for all oftheir hard work, as well as all speakers and delegates.Visit www.ienica.net to view the conferenceproceedings.

Contact: Caroline Holmes on ienica@csl.gov.uk

INFORRM - A pioneering projectgiving the first strategic informationgateway to recent European industrialsuccesses in the Renewable RawMaterials (RRM) sector

BackgroundIn early 2000 the European Renewable Resources &

Brassica juncea: high erucic acidSource: F. Zanetti

Materials Association (ERRMA) submitted a proposalunder the Fifth Framework Programme (FP5) for aConcerted Action. The concept was for an IndustryNetwork for Renewable Resources & Materials(INFORRM). After evaluation and selection by theCommission it was combined with thecomplementary IENICA project to become one of twoworkstreams in the INFORRM-IENICA project.INFORRM began on 1st April 2001 as a two-yearproject. It was conceived to provide the first strategic information gateway to further aid data access acrossthe RRM sector. INFORRM was the first RRM project, to be funded by the European Commission, toprovide the opportunity for a commercial-stylereview of the whole sector and develop a newtechnique to 'future proof' best practice in ICT(Information and Communication Technology). Thefive ERRMA partner countries, Belgium, France,Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, joined the firstwave of INFORRM. The project has been coordinatedby ACTIN, the UK representative organisation, withDr Nigel Oliver as Project Leader.

There is a vast range of activities and websitesmanaged by various organisations and Associations atthe regional, national and EU-wide level, covering theRRM sector from different perspectives (see Figure 1-from www.industrialcrops.eu.com). Data held bythese were not integrated nor was it easy to searchacross them for information on a specific topic.Indeed, they present a complex and therefore un-inviting scenario to any prospective "data miner", suchas a commercial company seeking to start a businessinitiative in this area and looking for marketing ortechnical data.

AchievementsDirectory of key playersThis has been published electronically and is knownas the 'INFORRM 100'. The partners identified aselection of key players within their countries andsubmitted details such as location, business type,competencies and products in a standard data entry

format. Concise profiles of these key activities andorganisations form the core of the directory. Thesedata are now published on the INFORRM website(www.inforrm.com) with "Smart-tags" added toenable full search facility by crop/product/sector etc.An electronic pro-forma has also been developed toenable further 'self-submissions' in the future. Thus itis hoped to build and maintain a growing bank ofinformation which will be automatically updated.

Case StudiesIndividual Cases were selected from each of the fiveparticipating countries to cover the spectrum ofsuccessful activity within the country. Anindependent Rapporteur was appointed to workclosely with each partner and with ERRMA to securethe co-operation of industry. The Cases, takentogether, illustrate by example how new productsbased on RRM have already reached the market place.From the experience gained by visiting each companyand interviewing the technical and marketing staffconcerned the Rapporteur created an electronictemplate to standardise data entry. This can now beused for self-submission of further Cases. Ananalytical framework emerged which shows commontrends in commercial enterprises embarking on RRMprojects. Whilst each case is unique in its specificStrengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, asthe portfolio of Cases grows certain generic featureskeep appearing. These underlying features, such aslack of raw material technical data for industrialspecification, help decision-makers at national and EClevel to focus R&D resources on areas critical toindustry. An example Case Study is illustrated withthe product Playmais® by Hubert Loick GmbH. Thiswonderfully simple and creative toy is produced fromfoamed, extruded maize grit and food colourings. Itnot only provides children with safe and stimulatingplay but is teaching tomorrow's consumers about theenvironmental benefits of RRM whilst they enjoythemselves.

XML data handlingThe data management and analysis system wasdeveloped by Pira International and allows users toaccess the INFORRM Directory of key players andCase Studies in a variety of ways. These can rangefrom simple browsing, through to detailed searchingfor specific data or 'data-mining' to compile maps,charts or summary matrices. INFORRM was one of

Playmais® by Hubert Loick GmbH

Figure 1.

Contact:Melvyn F. Askew

Central Science LaboratorySand Hutton

YorkYO41 1LZ

Tel: +44 (0) 1904 462309Fax: +44 (0) 1904 462029

E-mail: ienica@csl.gov.uk

The IENICA project is funded by Fifth Framework programme of the European Commission.

the first EC projects to utilise XML (Extensible MarkupLanguage), which should accelerate the acquiring,managing, publishing and transmitting of data onRRM's and the companies involved in them.

ConclusionsINFORRM and ERRMA have demonstrated theviability of using RRM as a feedstock by citing specificexamples of successes in the form of Case Studies.These are published on the web and can be browsedor searched by keyword. The functionality of the datasystem has been demonstrated at pilot level, but thefull usefulness will only be apparent when sufficientdata are loaded to give statistical robustness to anytrends and patterns. The project has demonstratedthat XML is a powerful tool for 'data-mining'.Common use of the XML language will reduce theproliferation of different websites using incompatiblelanguages. These make data exchange difficult andthis in turn leads to unnecessary duplication ofdevelopment effort across the EU.

The FutureThe information held by INFORRM, such as the 112Directory Entries, is now freely available through thewebsite in unrestricted form. It will be disseminated aswidely as possible electronically. INFORRM was onlyever a pilot project and restricted to a limited numberof organisations within only five countries. With suchlimited data it is therefore not possible to 'landscape'the total European RRM activity at this stage.However, the methodology has been proven to workwell and, given the resources to support further datagathering and maintenance, a robust model can nowbe built. This will provide a useful service to everyoneconcerned with RRM and the land-use and humanresource implications of scaling-up enterprises withina region.

Contact: Ian Bartle, ERRMA President ianbartle@easynet.co.uk or info@inforrm.com

Alternative Agriculture in theMountain Regions of Bulgaria

The programme for Alternative Agriculture in themountain regions of Bulgaria started in 2003 andincludes plant cultivation and stock farming. Its aim isthe creation of effective agriculture for the sustainabledevelopment of mountain regions through therestoration of traditional, and the re-creation ofalternative, agriculture, for the enhancement ofemployment and incomes. There are a number ofreasons for the development of this programme:

� The high level of unemployment in the region asa result of closing down some mining, industrialand agrarian activities

� Agriculture in the mountains is on small,fragmented fields, with low fertility

� Agriculture is currently largely based on two crops- potatoes and tobacco

� Low yields as a result of irregular crop rotationand difficulties connected with realisation ofproduction.

The Alternative Agriculture programme provideslabour employment and additional income to thepopulations of the mountain regions. Suitable croprotations in the areas currently occupied with tobaccoand potatoes will increase the yield and effectivenessof production. The introduction of some industrialcrops, and the new use of poor and stony soils onsteep and eroded grounds, provide for highereffectiveness and has an anti-erosion effect.Orientation towards ecological products according tothe requirements of the EC will guarantee theirmarket realisation.

Contact: Alexandra Balabanova, Agrobioinstitute, Bulgariaalex_b@abi.bg

Forthcoming Industrial Crops Events

5-6 November 2003The Rothamsted International BioMarket-BioProducts from Plants and MicrobesRothamstead, Harpenden, UKTel: 0044 (0)1582 763133Email: biomarket@bbsrc.ac.ukwebsite: www.bioproduct.info