Cascina Oschiena - Crova (VC) - Piedmont

Cascina Oschiena is a historic rice farm that has been run since 2008 by Alice and Simone, a couple both in business and in life. They run their rice farm with passion and dedication. Alice has learnt to sow and cultivate rice, to drive the tractor and to work the land, whilst Simone, an environmental chemist, plays a key role in selecting cultivation techniques to reduce the use of fertilisers and pesticides: indeed, all Cascina Oschiena rice is guaranteed to be residue-free. The farmstead has been renovated, whilst striving to respect the architecture of yesteryear: the drying shed and silos have been harmoniously integrated into the farmstead, whilst the stable for draught horses has been converted into a storage area for tractors and agricultural equipment. The farm covers 109 hectares, 25 of which were converted into a nature reserve in 2018: the Pittima Reale Natural Oasis is one of the largest private wetlands in Europe created through the conversion of agricultural land; if we add the 6.5 hectares of woodland, we can say that today around 30% of the farm's land has been returned to the environment and dedicated to biodiversity, whilst 70% is used for rice cultivation.