Cascina Oschiena is one of the oldest paddy fields in the Province of Vercelli. My name is Alice Cerutti, I'm 38 years old, and I'm a farmer. At our farm Cascina Oschiena my family and I grow rice, but cultivation is not our only commitment. We are deeply involved in safeguarding the environment, and committed to biodiversity and conserving the historical landscape. Today, maintaining the long tradition, we grow our products “Friend of the Earth” certified, in an Ecological Biodiversity Protected Area – Natura 2000. We adopt integrated production farming techniques such as sowing winter cover crops to increase natural fertility and high quality of the soil, planting grass in all of our field boundaries, digging kilometers of ditches in our fields for aquatic biodiversity, sowing ancient varieties and keeping traditional flooded sowing alive. We passionately respect the Environment: we planted over 5.000 trees and in 2019 we converted over 60 acres from cultivated land to Nature Reserve. Our aim is the survival and reproduction of amphibians, bees, dragonflies, butterflies, and migratory birds, especially our beloved Black-tailed Godwit, since Cascina Oschiena is the only recorded nesting site in Italy. Preserving the Environment today is not enough, it is necessary to give back to Nature for a better Future. All of Cascina Oschiena's Products are exclusively cultivated by us on our family farm with precision, love and expertise. Our rice varieties are: Arborio Classic, Carnaroli Classic, Carnaroli Classic Wholegrain, Apollo Aromatic long-grain, Selenio round-type, Venere and Ermes Wholegrain, and in 2016 we began to grow ancient Emmer (Farro Dicocco). We at Cascina Oschiena are among the few farmers in Italy that still grow ancient and local varieties and maintain their historical uniqueness and keep their quality alive. Our Carnaroli and Arborio are certified Classic, a Certification that guarantees authenticity and purity and distinguishes this true ancient variety from the Carnaroli and Arborio -type modern varieties created for industrial agriculture.