How it all began
The Agricultural Company of E. Visconti and M. C. Visconti & C. S.a.s. has been a farm for generations.
The lands of the Company have been property of the Visconti family since, at least, the 15th century. The family's heraldic emblem stands out on the buildings of the farm centre in the municipal territory of Breme, on the left bank of the Po. The farm centre is a typical Lombard farm of the 18th century articulated in different bodies and incorporating the oldest family house.
The farm owns a second farm centre in the municipal territory of Valmacca, on the right bank of the Po, near the active riverbed, called "Torre d'Isola". This last centre is a magnificent example of traditional rural architecture, restored in recent years both for agricultural and tourist-naturalistic purposes. During the Second War for the Independence of Italy (1859) the tower of the farmhouse was used as an observation post.
The agricultural activity of the farm has not experienced interruptions. In the past, the chants of the women who were busy looking after the rice manually echoed in the paddy fields of the farm. Today, powerful and modern machines have largely replaced manual work. The shapes of the companies have also changed to adapt to the national and European regulatory framework. The activity has expanded from agricultural work in the strict sense to the maintenance of the coastal environment.
Times change but the tradition remains; today the farm, always under the direction and supervision of the Visconti family, is run by a permanent staff (farmer, workers, administrative staff) and avails itself of the advice of forestry doctors (ForTeA s.r.l. s.t.p.).
The Company has carried out many initiatives and has achieved many projects and works with environmental aims, many of them in application of the above mentioned Management programme, others by adhering to other agri-environmental measures within the various Rural Development programmes. In addition to the employment of its own resources, the Company has been able to benefit, thanks to the drafting of specific projects and support applications, from public contributions made available under the Rural Development programmes.
From 2000 to the present day, about 90 hectares of medium-long cycle woodland trees have been planted with valuable broadleaf trees on former poplar groves or former arable land and about 91,000 plants were bedded.
Natural Area Management programme in the Po floodplain -- Approximately 900 ha of surface between the two main banks of the Po are the object of an environmental rehabilitation and conservation programme which began in 2000 and has seen the conversion of cultivated areas to natural areas and the planting of over 100,000 sprigs of forestal trees and shrub species.
Of particular interest is the orientation taken by the company for the realization of a management project for a vast fluvial area of the Po between the confluence of the Sesia and Rotaldo rivers, aimed at reconstituting and giving value to the fluvial and territorial environment. This initiative, the first of its kind in Italy, has sparked the interest of the public bodies of jurisdiction which, as far as they are concerned, have given the necessary authorisations and consents. The programme, which is gradually being implemented, has also been illustrated in specialized magazines and at conferences, among which we would like to mention:
2005 - The management of the Po river area on private initiative. A case study between the provinces of Alessandria and Pavia. Sherwood, 107, 13-17. Compagnia delle Foreste, Arezzo. (Authors P. Cielo, A. Morera, M.C. Visconti).
2005 - From the agriculture ambiental services for the management of fluvial areas. L'informatore Agrario, 15, 35-38. Edagricole, Bologna. (Authors P. Cielo, S. Bertolotto).
Of particular interest is the orientation taken by the company for the realization of a management project for a vast fluvial area of the Po between the confluence of the Sesia and Rotaldo rivers, aimed at reconstituting and giving value to the fluvial and territorial environment. This initiative, the first of its kind in Italy, has sparked the interest of the public bodies of jurisdiction which, as far as they are concerned, have given the necessary authorisations and consents. The programme, which is gradually being implemented, has also been illustrated in specialized magazines and at conferences, among which we would like to mention:
2005 - The management of the Po river area on private initiative. A case study between the provinces of Alessandria and Pavia. Sherwood, 107, 13-17. Compagnia delle Foreste, Arezzo. (Authors P. Cielo, A. Morera, M.C. Visconti).
2005 - From the agriculture ambiental services for the management of fluvial areas. L'informatore Agrario, 15, 35-38. Edagricole, Bologna. (Authors P. Cielo, S. Bertolotto).
Equally interesting are the involvement of the Company in an experimental programme of pilot farms for medium-long cycle tree farms, carried out by the Piedmont Region in collaboration with the Experimental Institute for Silviculture of Arezzo and the Institute for Experimentation for Poplar culture of Casale Monferrato, and the participation to a LIFE project, funded by the European Community in cooperation with the Province of Pavia. The latter project concerns the recovery of a wetland area constituting a nature reserve called "Garzaia del Bosco Basso" (Low Wood Heronry), within the framework of which interventions of ecosystems conservation and ancient fountains restoration are currently underway. These activities are carried out in addition to the normal management of the production of cereals, with integrated farming techniques and poplar wood with fast growing plants.