Protection from ink disease of Castanea sativa orchards: first steps of INKAS Project, the Rural Development Program for Marche region (central-eastern Italy)

Chestnut (Castanea sativa L.) is a multifunctional species which plays a key role in the economy of mountainous areas of Marche region (central-eastern Italy). More than 4,000 ha are covered with chestnut and about 1,000 ha are cultivated for fruit production, with more than 500 farms involved. Since some decades, there has been a gradual increase of chestnut orchards left without any cultivation for economic and social reasons as well as phytosanitary problems. At the beginning of 21^st century, the introduction of Asian chestnut gall wasp had an important and negative impact on the vigor and on the production of plants, with the recrudescence of ink disease, caused by Phytophthora spp., which from restricted areas step by step is undermining the chestnut regional heritage. At the end of 2022, rural development program founded INKAS Project, whose main objective is the protection of the existing regional chestnut heritage, from the relentless advance of ink disease, through a multidisciplinary approach.