CAV, Centro Attività Vivaistiche, is an Italian cooperative of commercial nurseries established in 1982 to assure production of healthy plant material of high quality. It has quarantine (i.e. 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.

Cav also has a laboratory performing phytopathological analysis. According to the D.R. 8750, 07/09/1998 and 1329, 22/02/2001, CAV’s lab is equipped for microbiological tests (isolation and identification), for serological analysis (direct and indirect ELISA and IFAS) and for molecular tests (PCR, RT-PCR and Real Time PCR). These accreditations include testing for:

-mites, insect pests, phytoplasmas, bacteria, fungi, viruses and viroids of fruit, vegetable and ornamental plants, including their propagation material;

– fruit and vegetable cultivar identity;

– grapevine health for clone registration (D.M. 25/10/2006). Our lab is authorized to conduct plant health assays for certification and registration of grapevine clones.

The operative sphere of CAV concerns strawberry and other soft fruits, olive, grapevine, citrus fruits, artichoke, nut, walnut, pistachio, pomegranate, actinidia and other horticultural plants. In 2005 CAV was recognized by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies (MIPAAF) through the D.M. 07/09/2005 (n° 30243 and n° 30252) as the centre for Quarantine and Pre-propagation of stone, pome, olive, and strawberry plants. With the D.M. 25/10/2006, MIPAAF authorizes CAV to perform virus indexing as specified by the provisions in D.M. 02/07/1991 n° 290 and controls listed in Allegato (appendix) IV of D.M. 08/02/2005 for grapevine propagation.

Since 2009 the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries (formerly Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) has accredited CAV as a pre-quarantine station for virus-indexing of pome- and stone-fruit plants imported from New Zealand as authorized by MAF Standard Accreditation of Offshore Plant Quarantine Facilities and Operator. The process, in compliance to the national (DM 19 March 2019) and European (DDG 6 December 2016) laws, allows CAV to produce plants which are genetically and sanitary certified, under the supervision of the Emilia – Romagna Regional Plant Protection Service.

The conservation and production of the plants take place in screen-houses, where CAV stores and produces pre-basic and basic material. CAV produces base material for its associated partners and national and international trade customers. Plants are subjected to annual checks (both visual and laboratory tests) for all the pathogens indicated in the ministerial regulation. Once all the tests are completed and if no pathogen is detected, the material can be passed on to partners or customers. Tests are performed by qualified internal staff and, randomly, by the public authority (Regional Plant Protection Service).

The CAV’s priority is to store the vegetative material under the best agronomic and sanitary conditions possible. Maximum attention is paid to the prevention of any pathogen that would invalidate the sanitary status of the stored material, and this applies particularly to bacterial and fungal infections. For this reason, CAV is constantly looking for research and innovative systems able to support the conservation and production of pathogen-free, vegetative material in screen-houses.

CAV is interested to collaborate with researchers that have experimented with UV technology for the purpose of eliminating bacteria and fungi in crop plants in greenhouses.

If interested to engage with CAV, please contact Pierluigi Lucchi or Clara Contaldo at lucchi@cavtebano.it and contaldo@cavtebano.it.