Mrs. Rosa Maria Bianco, owner of the farm house Le Biricoccole of Vada, is among the winners of the national prize Dea Terra 2002, promoted by the National Observatory for woman’s farming (onilfa), intended for women who have been standing out for an innovative approach in the woman’s farming field.

During a ceremony that took place in Rome for the World country women Day, the great acknowledgement was personally given to the winners from the Minister for agricultural and forest politics Giovanni Alemanno (in the photo with Mrs. Bianco).

The prize instituted by onilfa in order to throw light on woman’s agricultural business and work is intended for women whose personal history is characterized by generational continuity or by a creative employment of computer multimedial means, by respect and engagement for the environment or also because of the creative and original character of the business idea.

Minister Alemanno has acknowledged to Rosa Maria Bianco a special praise for the commitment in recovering old fruits cultivations according to ecologic and natural growing methods. The waldensian businesswoman has been fighting against genetic manipulation for years, recovering – not without difficulties – the old fruit plants that once were typical of the tuscan country. For the establishment of the nursery of her farm Rosa Maria Bianco applied to the cnr, which since some time has begun a thorough research for the safeguard of vegetal fruit species risking extinction. So in Vada there are again the plumcot, the platicarpa peach, the red-pulp pear and 500 old varieties of pears, apples, plums, apricots, peaches, almonds, cherries and minor fruits of the mediterranean bush.