The ROTATES Advisory Board consists of specialists in crop physiology, agroecology, seed systems, modelling and sustainable animal nutrition. Their role is to review the project’s scientific approach, assess methodological choices and provide feedback on the relevance and feasibility of planned activities. They will contribute by identifying potential risks, ensuring that the project’s outputs are technically robust and helping align ROTATES with current developments in their respective fields. Their expertise will support the consortium in strengthening experimental design, interpreting results and improving the overall quality and applicability of the project’s work.
Filippo Arfini
Filippo Arfini (PhD), Full Professor in Agricultural Economics at the Department of Economic and Management Science of the University of Parma (Italy). His research focuses on the assessment of Agricultural and Rural Development Policies by quantitative approaches, the economics of Food Quality Schemes, Food Policy and Agroecology. He has participated in several research projects in the framework of the European Research Scheme (from FP4 up to HEurope). Results of his research have been published in several Italian and international scientific journals. He was appointed to a six-year term as a Board member of the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE), demonstrating the stability and reliability of his contributions. From 2020 to 2022, he continued his leadership as President of the Italian Association of Agriculture and Applied Economists (AIEAA). He is the President of the Master’s Course on Economics and Management of Sustainable Food Systems at the University of Parma. He has served as the national coordinator for SPOKE 1 of the ONFOODS project of the Italian RRNP for the period 2023-2025. His link to ROTATES is given by his experience in research on farm management, agroecological implications, and ecosystem services developed during his academic career.
Felix Bianchi
Dr. Felix Bianchi’s work focuses on the ecology of agroecosystems, with particular emphasis on herbivore–natural enemy interactions and pollination ecology. He seeks to understand how farm management, environmental conditions and surrounding landscapes influence the population dynamics and spatial ecology of farmland species in relation to crop productivity. He uses a combination of experimentation and modelling to investigate the factors that shape interactions among crops, weeds, herbivores, natural enemies and pollinators. This understanding is essential for developing multifunctional agroecosystems at field, farm and landscape scales—systems that rely less on external inputs while supporting biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides. Together with master’s students, PhD candidates, postdocs and other collaborators, he has studied diversified crop systems across the world, including rice, cotton, wheat, maize and pear in China; maize in Ethiopia; horticultural systems in Uruguay; coffee in Brazil and Colombia; agroforestry systems and cassava in Brazil; and strip cropping in the Netherlands.
Luciano Pinotti
Prof. Luciano Pinotti is Full Professor in animal nutrition at the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences (DIVAS) of the University of Milan. Nowadays he conducts research in feed quality and safety/feed evaluation with emphasis on alternative feed ingredients like former food/ex‑food and insect meals (field sustainable animal nutrition). He is coordinator or partner in several national, international and European projects. Prof. Pinotti is member of the: (i) Technical‑Scientific Committee of the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia Romagna “Bruno Ubertini”; (ii) Scientific Committee of ASSALZO – Italian Feed Manufacture Association; (iii) External Advisory Committee of the Instituto de Ganadería de Montaña (IGM), Spain; (iv) LEAF – Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food Research Center, Lisbon, Portugal; (v) editorial boards of five peer‑reviewed journals. From 2019–25 he served as President and from 2026 will serve as Vice‑President of the Animal Nutrition Study Commission (N) of the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP), and since 2023 he has been Director of the Doctorate School of the University of Milan and Rector’s delegate for PhD programs.
Paul Struik
Paul C. Struik is emeritus professor of Crop Physiology at Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands. During a career of 44 years, he has conducted research and taught in various aspects of agronomy, grassland science and crop physiology. In recent decades, he has focused on seed systems, especially seed potato tubers in East Africa, and on the development of hybrid true potato seed. In addition, he led a large research program on modeling photosynthesis at various levels of biological organization. He is a member of the Committee to the Dutch Government on Genetic Modification and was a board member and vice‑chair of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas. Struik has received several international awards in recognition of his contribution to science and has been appointed Officer in the Order of Orange‑Nassau for his contributions to science and society. He has worked on multiplication, crop physiology and agronomy of many different root and tuber crops across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America, including several orphan crops, and has also studied the agrobiodiversity of many tuber crops.
