Wild Plants as Resource for Productive and Economic Purposes: Do Reasons Exist to Develop New Supply Chains?

Edible wild plants have been traditionallyused by rural population and a growing interestin their cultivation has been detectedin recent years. This paper investigates aboutwild plants verifying if potential economicchances may derive from the domesticationof wild plants and if new supply chains canbe proposed. By analyzing the opinions andattitudes of stakeholders potentially involvedin wild plants market, this study detects themost important factors linked to the use anddomestication of wild vegetable resourcesand highlights the favourable chances derivingfrom plant biodiversity exploitation in asocio-economic and environmental sustainabilityperspective. Results indicate that wild plants could be cultivated as crops and identify a set of strategic planning to introducenew supply chains in food markets.