Despite the bad weather that was raging in the rest of Sicily, the beautiful island of Favignana and its inhabitants welcomed with open arms the staff of Rete Semi Rurali, University of Catania, and Juan Carlos University of Madrid, all partners in the COUSIN project, along with Professor Maggioni, an expert on Brassica macrocarpa and member of the ECPGR working group on Crop Wild Relatives.

The island was explored far and wide in search of Brassica macrocarpa, the wild cousin of broccoli, endemic to the Egadi Islands and threatened with extinction.
And it was found! Over a thousand plants populate the cliffs of Favignana, preferring the sheer drops overlooking the sea.

One of the objectives of the COUSIN project is to continue monitoring this area, which could become one of Italy’s first Genetic Reserves, places dedicated to the conservation and knowledge of threatened wild species.

Brassica macrocarpa is a valuable resource for scientific research. Researchers working on the COUSIN project are experimenting with crossing it with cultivated varieties, which could help improve nutritional and anti-cancer properties, increase drought resistance, and even offer new natural solutions for controlling certain tomato pests.