Nazareno Strampelli (May 29, 1866, in

Castelraimondo Castelraimondo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona and about southwest of Macerata. Castelraimondo borders the following municipalities: Camerino, Fiuminata, ...

, Italy – January 23, 1942) was an Italian

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...

and

plant breeder Plant breeding is the science of changing the traits of plants in order to produce desired characteristics. It has been used to improve the quality of nutrition in products for humans and animals. The goals of plant breeding are to produce cro ...

. He was the forerunner of what became known as the

Green Revolution The Green Revolution, also known as the Third Agricultural Revolution, was a period of technology transfer initiatives that saw greatly increased crop yields and agricultural production. These changes in agriculture began in developed countrie ...

of the late 1960s. Strampelli's work allowed Italy to become almost self-sufficient in bread wheat production, relative to Italy's contemporaneous population and consumption patterns, increasing area-based agricultural intensity from an average yield of 1.0 t/ ha at the beginning of the 19th century to about 1.5 t/ha in the 1930s,Gian Tommaso Scarascia Mugnozza
The contribution of Italian wheat geneticists: From Nazareno Strampelli to Francesco D'Amato
, 2005. through the

hybridization Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to: *Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid *Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals *Nu ...

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

into high-yield varietals.

Early years

After graduating in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

, he taught for a few years at the

University of Camerino The University of Camerino ( it, Università degli Studi di Camerino) is a university located in Camerino, Italy. It is the best university of Italy among those with fewer than 10,000 students, according to the Guida Censis Repubblica 2011 and 201 ...

and in

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label= Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popul ...

Career

In 1900, while in Camerino, he started his research on the

, although he was unaware of the concurrent work of

Gregor Mendel Gregor Johann Mendel, Augustinians, OSA (; cs, Řehoř Jan Mendel; 20 July 1822 – 6 January 1884) was a biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinians, Augustinian friar and abbot of St Thomas's Abbey, Brno, St. Thomas' Abbey in Br� ...

. In 1903 he was

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

of agriculture in

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...

, while there he continued to cross wheat varieties and within a few years developed new high-performing hybrid combinations. From 1907 he was in charge of the "Wheat experimental station". His wheat breeding programs achieved the shortening of the growing phase and increasing of the disease tolerance through the reduction of the stem size. Strampelli's best performing varieties were named ''Gregorio Mendel'', ''Luigia'', ''Varrone'', followed by small sized and high baking varieties such as ''Villagloria'', ''Ardito'' (the result of crossing local wheat with Japanese ''Akagomugi''), ''Mentana'', ''Edda'', ''Balilla'' and ''Fanfulla''. In order to disseminate the results of his studies, he established a farmers' association in Rieti. In 1919 a national

cereal crop A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food en ...

breeding institute was established in Rome, and Strampelli was appointed as director. Starting in 1925 he was in charge of a major national program, ''La battaglia del grano'', supporting the increase of wheat production and yield, aimed at ensuring Italian food security and self-sufficiency. In 1929 he was nominated Senator of the Kingdom for his scientific achievements.

Final years

In his final years, he created three new high-yielding and small sized varieties of wheat: ''S. Pastore'', ''Velino'' and ''Turano''. The ''Mentana'' variety was exported and cropped in

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and became the source of a new generation of high-yielding, small size wheat varieties. The ''Istituto Sperimentale di Genetica "Nazareno Strampelli"'' in

Lonigo Lonigo is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy, its population counts around 16,400 inhabitants.Source: ISTAT - Bilancio demografico al 31/12/200 In its ''frazione'' of Bagnolo is the Villa Pisani, a Renaissance ...

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

, is named after him.

References

*''Viaggio nella genetica di Nazareno Strampelli'', Sergio Salvi *''Quattro passi nella scienza di Nazareno Strampelli'', Sergio Salvi

External links

The contribution of Italian wheat geneticists: From Nazareno Strampelli to Francesco D’Amato

Storia di Nazareno Strampelli

Agricoltura italiana

Scheda
sul database del
I Senatori d'Italia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strampelli, Nazareno Italian agronomists 1942 deaths 1866 births

Early years

Career

Final years

See also

References

External links