
Paolo ANNICCHIARICO (PhD)
Director of Research
Centre for Animal Production and Aquaculture,
Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA)
Address: viale Piacenza 29, 26900 Lodi, Italy
Phone: +39 0371 404751
E-mail: paolo.annicchiarico@crea.gov.it
Research positions
- From Jan. 2002: Director of Research, CREA (formerly CRA and IRSA-Ist. Sper. Colture Foraggere), Lodi
- May 1988 – Dec. 2001: Scientist and Senior Scientist, Istituto Sperimentale Colture Foraggere, Lodi
- Oct. 1985 – Aug. 1987: Research associate at ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria
Other working periods abroad
- Visiting scientist at the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Ardmore, OK, USA (Jul. 2012 – Jul. 2013)
Education
- Doctor of Philosophy: Univ. of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK (Feb. 1998; research work performed in Italy)
- Advanced courses in Plant Genetic Resources and in Applied Statistics: Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Gembloux, Belgium (Sep. 1987 – Apr. 1988)
- Graduation (MSc): Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Univ. of Perugia
Main research topics
- Genetic improvement and genetic resources of feed grain legumes (pea; white lupin; soybean; faba bean; cowpea) and forage crops (alfalfa; white clover; red clover; sulla)
- Tolerance to abiotic (drought; salinity; low temperatures) and biotic stresses (plant competition; grazing)
- Genomic selection
- Breeding strategies based on ecophysiological, evolutionary and farmer-participatory approaches
- Breeding for organic systems
- Genotype × environment interaction analysis and modelling of plant adaptation
Scientific publications
- 307 (excluding abstracts), with 2 books and 144 papers in journals with high impact factor (ISI Q1 or Q2). See https://scholar.google.it/citations?user=fqejsnIAAAAJ&hl=en
- h-index: 49; i10 index: 158
- Classed in the top 0.5% percentile of scientists in the “Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators” by J.P.A. Ioannidis, for both classes “Plant Biology” and “Agronomy & Agriculture” (from 2019 to date)
- Award certificate of Outstanding Paper in Crop Breeding and Genetics issued by the C1 Division of the Crop Science Society of America, for the paper: Annicchiarico P. (2021) Crop Science 61, 2254-2270
Plant varieties
- Alfalfa: ‘Costanza’ (registered in 2006, patent EU37838); ‘Alfitalia’ (registered in 2018)
- White clover: ‘Giga’ (registered in 2006; patent EU39807); ‘Trefor’ (registered in 2015)
- Pea: ‘Pantera Rosa’ (registered in 2020); ‘Pifor’ (registered in 2022)
- White lupin: ‘Arsenio’ (registered in 2023)
- Faba bean: ‘Tano’ (registered in 2023)
International projects and coordination of national projects
- FP7-EraNet “Resilient, water- and energy-efficient forage and feed crops for Mediterranean agricultural systems – REFORMA” (2012-2016). Project coordinator
- MiPAAF “Genomic selection of grain and forage legumes for crop yield, drought tolerance and protein content – GENLEG” (2021-2023). Project coordinator
- Horizon “Integrating breeding for IPM into the deployment landscape for wheat, potatoes and grain legumes – IPMorama” (2024 – 2028). CREA representative
- Horizon “Breeding European legumes for increased sustainability – BELIS” (2023-2028). Leader of research work on pea (species representative), leader of the Task “New phenotyping tools and protocols”, and CREA representative
- Horizon “Innovations in plant variety testing in Europe to foster the introduction of new varieties better adapted to varying biotic and abiotic conditions and to more sustainable crop management practices – INVITE” (2019-2023). Leader of research work on alfalfa (species representative)
- Horizon “Co-constructing territorial and digital networks to value agrobiodiversity in quality plant-based food – DIVINFOOD” (2022-2027). CREA representative
- Horizon “Developing intercropping for agrifood value chains and ecosystem services delivery in Europe and Southern countries – INTERCROPVALUES” (2022-2026).
- Core Organic “Diversifying organic crop production to increase resilience – DIVERSILIENCE” (2022-2025). Leader of WP “Exploitation of heterogeneous material”, and CREA representative
- PRIMA “Research-based participatory approaches for adopting conservation agriculture in the Mediterranean area – CAMA” (2020-2023). Leader of WP “Genomic and farmer-participatory selection of novel legume genotypes”
- Horizon “Redesigning European cropping systems based on species mixtures – REMIX” (2017-2020). Leader of the Task “Novel breeding schemes for species mixtures”, and CREA representative
- Horizon “Improving the performance of organic agriculture by boosting organic seed and plant breeding efforts across Europe – LIVESEED” (2017-2020). Leader of the Task “White lupin: breeding, and widening the genetic base by CCP and molecular approaches”, and CREA representative
- FP7 “Legumes for the agriculture of tomorrow – LEGATO” (2014-2017). Leader of the WP “Genetics and new breeding tools”, and CREA representative
- FP7-Core Organic “Coordinating organic plant breeding activities for diversity – COBRA” (2013-2016). Leader of the Task “Evolutionary and marker-assisted grain legume selection”, and CREA representative
- FP6 “Improvement of native perennial forage plants for sustainability of Mediterranean farming systems – PERMED” (2004-2009). Leader of the WP “Germplasm drought tolerance, perenniality and water use efficiency”, and CREA representative
- Bilateral Italy – USA (“di grande rilevanza” MAE) “Genomic selection in alfalfa – GENALFA” (2014-2015). Italian coordinator
- Bilateral Italy – Algeria (MAE) “Applied durum wheat research for Algeria – Breeding and improved variety adaptation” (1998-2002). Responsible for planning, data analysis and scientific reporting of the research work
Teaching
- Over 270 lecturing hours in international courses organized by CIHEAM, IAO, FAO, IAEA, Lanzhou Univ.
- Contract professor of “Statistical methods for agricultural sciences”, Univ. of Milan (1999-2002; 240 lecturing hours)
- Director of FAO-IAO international training courses “Exploiting plant adaptation and biodiversity for higher and more stable yields” (2004-2006)
Other major responsibilities
- President (2019-2023), member of the Executive Committee (from 2013) and the Scientific Committee (from 2011) of the International Legume Society
- Member of the Executive Committee (from 2019) and the Scientific Committee (from 2015) of the International Lupin Association (from 2015)
- Member of the Scientific Committee of EUCARPIA Forage Crops & Amenity Grass Section (2011-2019)
- Member of the Editorial Board of the journals Legume Sci. (2019-2023), It. J. Agron. (from 2006), J. Crop Improv. (2004-2022), Legume Perspect. (2013-2019) e Grain Legumes (2011-2013)
- Member of the EIP Focus Group on Protein Crops of the European Commission (2013-2014)
- Member of the Advisory Board of the Instituto de Agricultura Sostenible (IAS) of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Spain
- Evaluator of national scientific projects for France, Germany, Portugal and Serbia
- Coordinator of the Crop Improvement section of CREA-FLC (2010-2017), e current member of the Scientific Committee of the Centre
Selected recent publications
- Annicchiarico, P., M. Laouar, I. Thami-Alami, M. Crosta, N. Nazzicari, L. Pecetti, L. Russi (2025). Comparison of phenotypic selection of inbred lines, genomic selection of inbred lines, and evolutionary populations for field pea breeding in three Mediterranean regions. Frontiers in Plant Science 16, 1565087 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1565087/full
- Annicchiarico, P., N. Franguelli, B. Ferrari, G. Campanella, S. Gualanduzzi, M. Crosta, C. Delogu, G. Spataro, N. Nazzicari (2025). Molecular markers enhance substantially the distinctness of alfalfa varieties for registration and protection. The Plant Genome 18, e20556 https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/tpg2.20556
- Franguelli, N., D. Cavalli, T. Notario, L. Pecetti, P. Annicchiarico (2024). Frost tolerance improvement in pea and white lupin by a high-throughput phenotyping platform. Frontiers in Plant Science 15, 1490577 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1490577/full
- Annicchiarico, P., L. Pecetti, N. Franguelli (2024). Agronomic value of alfalfa semi-hybrids across contrasting Italian environments. Crop Science 65, e21425 https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/csc2.21425
- Nazzicari, N., N. Franguelli, B. Ferrari, L. Pecetti, P. Annicchiarico (2024). The effect of genome parametrization and SNP marker subsetting on genomic selection in autotetraploid alfalfa. Genes 15, 449 https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/15/4/449
- Pecetti, L., S. Tlahig, M. Confalonieri, M. V. Cornacchione, T. Hayek, S. Prieto Angueira, P. Annicchiarico (2024). A comparison of procedures for evaluating and selecting alfalfa landrace germplasm for tolerance to salinity. Crop Science 64, 2143-2157 https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/csc2.21258
- Osuna-Caballero, S., D. Rubiales, P. Annicchiarico, N. Nazzicari, N. Rispail (2024). Genomic prediction for rust resistance in pea. Frontiers in Plant Science 15, 1429802 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1429802/full
- Annicchiarico, P., L. Russi, M. Romani, T. Notario, L. Pecetti (2023). Value of heterogeneous material and bulk breeding for inbred crops: a pea case study. Field Crops Research 293, 108831. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378429023000242
- Crosta, M., M. Romani, N. Nazzicari, B. Ferrari, P. Annicchiarico (2023). Genomic prediction and allele mining of agronomic and morphophysiological traits in pea germplasm collections. Frontiers in Plant Science 14, 1320506. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1320506/full
- Annicchiarico, P., A. de Buck, D.N. Vlachostergios, D. Heupink, A. Koskosidis, N. Nazzicari, M. Crosta (2023). White lupin adaptation to environments with calcareous soils: phenotypic variation and genome-enabled prediction. Plants 12, 1139. https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/12/5/1139
- Pecetti, L., P. Annicchiarico, M. Crosta, T. Notario, B. Ferrari, N. Nazzicari (2023). White lupin drought tolerance: genetic variation, trait genetic architecture, and genome-enabled prediction. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 24, 2351. https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/3/2351
- Annicchiarico, P., N. Nazzicari, A. Bouizgaren, T. Hayek, M. Laouar, M. Cornacchione, D. Basigalup, C. Monterrubio Martin, E.C. Brummer, L. Pecetti (2022). Alfalfa genomic selection for different stress-prone growing regions. The Plant Genome 16, e20264. https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tpg2.20264
- Pavan S., C. Delvento, N. Nazzicari, B. Ferrari, N. D’Agostino, F. Taranto, C. Lotti, L. Ricciardi, P. Annicchiarico (2022). Genotyping-by-sequencing data from two ex situ core collections provide insights on the pea domestication history. Horticulture Research 9, uhab062. https://academic.oup.com/hr/article/doi/10.1093/hr/uhab062/6511244
- Annicchiarico, P., L. Pecetti (2022). Exploiting heterosis of semi-hybrids and heterogeneity of cultivar mixtures to enhance alfalfa crop performance. Field Crops Research 283, 108522. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378429022000934
- Kang, Y., A. Seminario, M. Udvardi, P. Annicchiarico (2022). Physiological and biochemical adaptive traits support the specific breeding of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) for severely drought-stressed or moisture-favourable environments. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science (doi: 10.1111/jac.12600). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jac.12600
- Crosta, M., N. Nazzicari, B. Ferrari, L. Pecetti, L. Russi, M. Romani, G. Cabassi, D. Cavalli, A. Marocco, P. Annicchiarico (2022). Pea grain protein content across Italian environments: genetic relationship with grain yield, and opportunities for genome-enabled selection for protein yield. Frontiers in Plant Science 12, 718713. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2021.718713/full
- Annicchiarico, P., N. Nazzicari, T. Notario, C. Monterrubio Martin, M. Romani, B. Ferrari, L. Pecetti (2021). Pea breeding for intercropping with cereals: variation for competitive ability and associated traits, and assessment of phenotypic and genomic selection strategies. Frontiers in Plant Science 12, 731949. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2021.731949/full
- Annicchiarico, P., L. Pecetti (2021). Comparison among nine alfalfa breeding schemes based on actual biomass yield gains. Crop Science 61, 2355-2370. https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/csc2.20464
- Annicchiarico P. (2021). Breeding gain from exploitation of regional adaptation: an alfalfa case study. Crop Science 61, 2254-2270. https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/csc2.20423
- Annicchiarico, P., N. Nazzicari, M. Laouar, I. Thami-Alami, M. Romani, L. Pecetti (2020). Development and proof-of-concept application of genome-enabled selection for pea grain yield under severe terminal drought. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 21, 2414. https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/7/2414
- Pecetti, L., A.M. Carroni, P. Annicchiarico (2020). Performance and adaptability of subterranean clover pure lines and line mixtures of different complexity across contrasting Mediterranean environments. Field Crops Research 256, 107907. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378429020311916
- Annicchiarico, P., N. Nazzicari, L. Pecetti, M. Romani, L. Russi (2019). Pea genomic selection for Italian environments. BMC Genomics 20, 603. https://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s12864-019-5920-x.pdf
- Annicchiarico, P., R.P. Collins, A.M. De Ron, C. Firmat, I. Litrico, H. Hauggaard-Nielsen (2019). Do we need specific breeding for legume-based mixtures? Advances in Agronomy 157, 141-215. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0065211319300513
- Annicchiarico, P., L. Russi, M. Romani, L. Pecetti, N. Nazzicari (2019). Farmer-participatory vs. conventional market-oriented breeding of inbred crops using phenotypic and genome-enabled approaches: a pea case study. Field Crops Research 232, 30-39. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378429018312334
- Annicchiarico, P., N. Nazzicari, B. Ferrari, N. Harzic, A.M. Carroni, M. Romani, L. Pecetti (2019). Genomic prediction of grain yield in contrasting environments for white lupin genetic resources. Molecular Breeding 39, 142. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11032-019-1048-6