“Return to the Future” With a Systemic Agrivoltaic Strategy

A Path to Regenerate an Abandoned Rural Village and Revive Agriculture After the Xylella Olive Tree Disease in the Puglia Region (Southern Italy)

Abstract

This paper examines a rural regeneration project combining a utility-scale agrivoltaic system with an innovative agricultural system involving intercropping olive trees with fodder, medicinal and melliferous crops. The resulting project serves as a potential best practice in the Mediterranean region, particularly in Puglia, southern Italy, where olive groves have been severely affected by a plant disease caused by the quarantine bacterium Xylella fastidiosa. The study takes an integrated approach, covering several design dimensions, including agricultural, environmental, ecological, energy, social, economic, and architectural considerations. The proposal to restore the abandoned rural village of Monteruga and revive its vibrant rural economy seems to be a coherent strategy of "going back to the future." The agrivoltaic system is integrated with other relevant components to promote multifunctional development and social innovation by leveraging the production and sale of renewable energy. The agrivoltaic facility's temporary reinforcing action would boost an innovative rural development process, providing an appropriate regenerative response to the catastrophic effects of desiccation and uprooting of olive groves caused by Xylella. Rural regeneration is urgently needed and can be supported by optimized, specifically designed agrivoltaic systems, among other things. A transition period of at least 20 years is required for the associated agricultural system to become self-sustaining, with the option of replacing the agrivoltaic system entirely.