A team of researchers from the Institute for the Preservation and Improvement of Valencian Agro-diversity (COMAV) of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) has recovered, improved and typified the purple carrot of Villena (Safanòria morà), a historical crop from the south of València and north of Alicante that was in the process of disappearing.
The selected variety stands out for its high yield in both organic and conventional production and for the high quality of its root. This achievement has been possible thanks to the joint work of the research team and numerous farmers in the area, agricultural companies and a group of local consumers.
Villena farmers are already tapping into this new improved ecotype. According to Adrián Rodríguez Burruezo, researcher at the COMAV Institute of the UPV and coordinator of the project, it is a crop “adapted to sustainable production, which has a high organoleptic and nutritional quality, and is being very well received by consumers”.
The next step for the team will be to carry out the variety registration to legally protect this variety and promote the quality brand.