Riccardo Picone
PhD Cycle XXXIX
PhD project: “Optimization of plant-soil feedback under legume-cereal intercropping systems”
Supervisor
Giacomo Pietramellara, Shamina Imran Pathan, Georg Guggenberger, Norman Gentsch
riccardo.picone(AT)unifi.it
Office address
Piazzale delle Cascine, 28 – 50144, Firenze
Office phone
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Profile
Riccardo Picone, born on 23/11/1999 in Avellino (AV), graduates in Biotechnology (Bachelor’s Degree) at the Università degli Studi del Sannio with the final grade 110/110 cum laude and Honorable Mention on the 29/09/2021 with the thesis entitled “Polyethylene biodegradation”.
On the 17/10/2023 he graduates in his Master’s Degree in Biotechnology for Environmental Management and Sustainable Agriculture (BIOEMSA) at the Università degli Studi di Firenze with the final grade 110/110 cum laude and Printing Dignity with the thesis entitled “Rhizosphere and bulk soil microbial communities under forage legume-cereal intercropping: abundance and interactions with soil physicochemical properties and plant performance”.
On the 01/11/2023 he becomes a student of the PhD Program in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the Università degli Studi di Firenze as part of the project “Leguminose Horizon Europe”.
Main Papers
Picone, R., Pietramellara, G., Guggenberger, G., Pathan, S.I. & Gentsch, N. The contemporary plant-soil feedback in legume-cereal intercropping systems: a review of carbon, nutrient, and microbial dynamics. Plant Soil (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-025-07723-w
Seminars and conference
Marchetti G., Picone R., Sharaf A., Arfaioli P., Pietramellara G., Pathan S.I. - Examining carbon cycle mechanisms in wheat-clover intercropping systems through the quantification of genes associated with cellobiose hydrolysis – Poster presentation, FEMS MICRO MILAN, 14-17/07/2025
Roccotelli A., Picone R., Marchetti G., Sharaf A. H., Arfaioli P., Pietramellara G., Pathan S.I. - Is a Dual-Plant System More Efficient in Nitrogen Cycle Closure? An Italian Study on Clover-Wheat Intercropping - Poster presentation, FEMS MICRO MILAN, 14-17/07/2025
Hassan A.S.A., Picone R., Arfaioli P., Marchetti G., Pietramellara G., Pathan S.I. - Short-term impact of clover–based intercropping system on wheat performance and soil physicochemical properties and enzyme activities – Oral presentation, XLIII SICA Congress - Padova, 23/06/2025
Picone R., Gentsch N., Guggenberger G., Pietramellara G., Pathan S.I. -Wheat-faba bean intercropping can sustain soil nutrients and C cycles under different N fertilization levels – Poster presentation, 5th Conference on Ecology of Soil Microorganisms 2025 – Helsinki, 15-19/06/2025
Pathan S.I., Picone R., Marchetti G., Roccotelli A., Sharaf A., Arfaioli P., Pietramellara G. - Is a dual-plant system more efficient in nitrogen cycle closure? An Italian study on clover-wheat intercropping – Poster presentation, 5th Conference on Ecology of Soil Microorganisms 2025 – Helsinki, 15-19/06/2025
Picone R., Gentsch N., Pietramellara G., Pathan S.I. – Can intercropping be a solution to apply on a large scale? The results of the living labs – Seminar held during the event organized by the Ente Terre Regionali Toscane - Cesa, Marciano della Chiana (AR), 22/05/2025
Picone R., Sharaf A., Arfaioli P., Pietramellara G., Pathan S.I.- Wheat-clover intercropping enhances plant yield while sustaining soil microbial communities with limited impacts on edaphic properties – Oral presentation, 2nd Young Soil Researchers Forum – Online event, 15/10/2024
Picone R., Sharaf A., Arfaioli P., Pietramellara G., Pathan S.I. - Wheat-clover intercropping can induce positive Plant-Soil Feedback with minimal impact on soil physical properties - Poster presentation, Centennial Celebration and Congress of the International Union of Soil Sciences - Firenze, 19-21/05/2024
Marchetti G., Picone R., Sharaf A., Arfaioli P., Pietramellara G., Pathan S.I. - Effect of clover-wheat intercropping on soil enzyme activities and abundance of microbial β-glucosidase genes – Poster presentation, Centennial Celebration and Congress of the International Union of Soil Sciences - Firenze, 19-21/05/2024
Picone, R., Hassan, A. S., Arfaioli, P., Pietramellara, G., Pathan, S.I., 2023. Legume-cereal intercropping: results from the first year of experimentation with clover and soft wheat in the Italian research field trial - Workshop of the Leguminose Project - Firenze, 21st September
Awards
“Mario Rosso e Laura Billi – 2025” prize for the Master’s thesis inherent to the topic “The sustainable management of the agroecosystems. Analytical approaches in the agrochemistry laboratory” awarded by the Società Italiana Laboratori Pedologici e Agrochimici (Aosta, 29/05/2025)
Mention of merit for the prize “Alberto Bardazzi – XX edition” for the Master’s thesis awarded by the Polo Universitario Città di Prato (Prato, 14/11/2024)
Printing Dignity for the Master’s thesis entitled “Rhizosphere and bulk soil microbial communities under forage legume-cereal intercropping: abundance and interactions with soil physicochemical properties and plant performance” (Firenze, 17/10/2023).
Honorable Mention awarded in relation to the Bachelor’s Degree in Biotechnology at the Università degli Studi del Sannio (Benevento, 29/09/2021).
Personal Links, Blogs, Websites
Last update
25.08.2025