AgroMed International Conference December 1-2, 2016 Avignon (FRA) A NATIONAL PEDOCLIMATIC CHARACTERIZATION OF CROPPING SCHEMES BASED ON FADN ITALIAN DATA Giuliano VITALI 1± – Davide RIZZO 2* – Guido BALDONI 1 – Guido Maria BAZZANI 3 – Concetta CARDILLO 4 – Maurizio CANAVARI 1 1 University of Bologna (ITA) 2 Unité INTERACT, UniLaSalle, Campus de Beauvais (FRA) 3 CNR-IBIMET, Bologna (ITA) 4 CREA, Roma (ITA) ∗ Speaker: Davide Rizzo | ± Corresponding author: Giuliano Vitali, giuliano.vitali@unibo.it Introduction Agriculture is the human activity that uses and transforms most of the Earth’s surface. The intensification of farming practices and the reduction of species grown occurred in the past decades is compromising sustainability in all of its meanings. In this regard, it is crucial to scale up the agronomic research from the plot/farm level to the landscape level (Benoit, Rizzo et al., 2012). This challenge is taking benefits from the recent advances in remote sensing that are achieving increasingly detailed crop maps. However, the effects of farming on the environment may take several years to be detectable, so research is needed to analyse the temporal evolution of crop patterns. Methods to map crop sequences can significantly improve the spatially explicit understanding of the interactions between farming practices and natural resources. Another contribution to understanding could come from analysing data collected for different purposes, but rich of information, as the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) a source that could provide relevant insights on the farm management of yearly crop choices. Materials and Methods The FADN was established by the European Community in 1965 (Regulation EC No 79/65). The purpose of FADN database is monitoring and evaluating the effects of the Common Agricultural Policies (CAP) on agricultural dynamics. It is fed by an annual survey of a farm sample representative of national agricultural situations. Altogether, FADN is delivering a detailed snapshot of farm structure, collecting yearly economic and technical information. An additional advantage is its availability for whole Europe. In each Country, a national agency is mandate to perform the survey that is composed by two parts: (i) a general set of variables that remains the same across Europe; (ii) a national specific part. The National Institute of Agricultural Economics (INEA) is the Italian agency that feeds the FADN database (DPR n. 1708/65. In Italy, FADN sample can be connected with the agricultural general census universe, performed every 10 years by ISTAT, so to improve its representativeness. We faced three major constraints of FADN. (1) First, the yearly sample is random within the predefined statistical layers, because all farms belonging to the same layer are assumed to be equivalent. Hence, the list of sampled farms changes every year. Therefore, farms are sampled just once or more times (even not sequential) with no strictly plan. (2) Second, climate characterization is very poor in FADN, as it is limited to the altitude and few geomorphological classes (plain, slope, and mountain). To explore the relevant role of climatic features as driving factor of local cropping schemes, a fit of Pavari’s phyto-climatic zoning and Tomaselli’s biomes has been developed and included to RICA that is based on five climate classes (Vitali et al., 2012). (3) Third, RICA provides only partial data about crop sequences (i.e., timely ordered set