Supervisors: Prof. Silvia Tavarini and Prof. Cristiano Nicolella
Research field: Agronomy
Research interests: Mineral/organic fertilization, food/non-food crops, circular economy
Department head office, via del Borghetto, 80, Pisa
alessandro.rossi@phd.unipi.it
Alessandro obtained his master’s degree in Agrifood Production and Agroecosystem Management at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment of the University of Pisa, with a thesis on the agronomic and environmental characteristics of biosolids for winter cereals fertilization. Afterwards, he performed research activities as fellow researcher in the same Department. His research activities focused on the valorisation of minor oilseed crops, such as linseed, camelina, safflower and hemp, within regional and national projects (COBRAF, SIC-OLEAT, Prin-Argento). Alessandro’s PhD project aims to obtain innovative fertilizers, starting from local industrial by-products as main raw material, in a circular economy prospective. Working closely with industry (his PhD is co-funded by FerroDuo company), the obtained formulations will be evaluated on agronomic trials on different scales, like pots and field plots. During tests, physiological, morphological, productive, and qualitative performances of some herbaceous crops chosen as models, will be evaluated. After agronomic validation, an environmental assessment of the innovative formulations will be performed, using LCA methodology. The main motivation that encouraged Alessandro to address his PhD topic, is the impact that the application of circular economy principles can have on the environmental impact of our societies: the recovery of resources from waste materials can greatly reduce the need for virgin raw materials, increasing the efficiency of production systems and sustainability of agricultural productions.
