CAV is a cooperative of commercial nurseries established in 1982 to assure quality production of healthy plant material. It has quarantine (i.a. screen houses) and field facilities for Pre-base material conservation and the production of post-assay and indexed healthy Base (mother) plants for its associated partners and outside customers in compliance with national, EU and international certification standards and schemes under the supervision of the Emilia-Romagna Regional Phytosanitary Service. Our lab is also authorized to conduct plant health assays for certification and registration of grapevine clones.
CAV is based at Tebano in the high-tech industrial park located near the city of Faenza in Ravenna Province about 50 kilometres southeast of Bologna. The surrounding area is also a major agricultural basin. CAV’s direct operational sphere includes the plants of tree and soft fruit, strawberry, olive, grapevine, kiwi, hazelnut, walnut, pistachio, artichoke, pomegranate, citrus and vegetables. It is a list that mostly reflects the produce grown in the area’s fields and valleys.
It’s operations also embrace the international sphere. CAV works closely with NakTuinbouw, the Netherlands Inspection Service for Horticulture, the Centre Technique Interprofessionnel des Fruits et Légumes (CTIFL) in France, and the Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center of Washington State University (IAREC, WSU). It is also a founder member of the CIVI-Italia inter-professional nursery centre.
CAV’s partners currently hold national nursery-market shares of 95% for strawberry, 75% for soft fruits, 50% for fruit-tree species and 50% for grapevine. Together with its international profile, CAV is one of Europe’s most important nursery organizations.
