Restoration of old and abandoned chestnut plantations in northern Italy

In the second half of the XX century in the Mediterranean Region the chestnut cultivation was submitted to a severe decline due to the abandonement of the groves and the fast spread of pest and diseases. In the recent decades, in several European countries, to restore the plantations and to preserve the chestnut tree heritage old groves have been renewed and coppices converted into orchards. The purpose of this work is to give an overview of the restoration techniques applied in Northern Italy chestnut areas. The restoration techniques include: local germplasm identification and collection ex situ, study of the bioagronomic and quality traits of the chestnuts, cleaning of the groves from bush, fern and weed, severe pruning of the plants.