Lasagna, Confagricoltura: technology and digitalization are a priority

Matteo Lasagna, national vice-president of Confagricoltura, talks to us about how much and how the most advanced technologies are adopted by Italian farms.

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Matteo Lasagna Confagricoltura

"Technology and digitalization in the agricultural sector are a priority," says Matteo Lasagna, national vice president of Confagricoltura. "Being able to observe from above, through drones and satellites, everything the land needs, intersecting the points of 'deficiency' with those of 'surplus' and, therefore, optimizing crop operations, has improved the performance on the fields and the production capacity, without altering the intrinsic quality of the soils."

However, the subject is more complex, and one of the areas to focus on, also from the point of view of environmental sustainability, is undoubtedly the rational and measured use of water. As Lasagna goes on to say: "The agricultural business is being asked to be 'sustainable', which is why we need to focus increasingly on precision agriculture: the right amount, where it's needed. And when needed. Our agriculture, aware of its role in the use of water resources, is already committed to adopting sustainable management models, such as precision irrigation. It is important to relaunch investments and encourage the circularity of the entire supply chain, in order to deal with the critical points of the sector, including a fragile and outdated infrastructure network".

In short, sustainability also depends on innovation and there's no reason why we can't take inspiration from winning models around the world: "Israel is certainly an example in terms of water, fertilizer and energy consumption. From the point of view of robotics there are also European countries like Holland, where 11% of greenhouses already use robots. But there are also Italian companies, such as dairy farms, with robotic stables and staff increasingly qualified in the management of complex instruments, which are becoming leaders in Europe".

A digital strategy for the agricultural sector in Italy

Returning to our borders, what is needed is "a national plan aimed at increasing production capacity, both in terms of self-supply, a problem that emerged in particular with the Coronavirus emergency, and of competitiveness on global markets, whose balances have changed," said the vice-president of Confagricoltura. "Our sector, although strong, must concentrate its production capacity through careful planning to meet the present and future needs of the country. We need a digital strategy also for agriculture, in terms of strengthening the intangible infrastructure network, another aspect on which difficulties emerged during the lockdown, and training of employees. Italy is lagging behind other countries, and we must return to compete in international markets to avoid losing important market shares. Finally, Lasagna highlighted a point that has always been dear to companies in all sectors: the need to streamline bureaucratic procedures. "The theme of simplification is not new and, unfortunately, it has become clear that the network of Italian bureaucracy is the first problem to be overcome in order to grow, to start again. Because for Italian agricultural businesses, in addition to environmental sustainability, economic sustainability is fundamental".

 

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