Digital controls for BIO are safer
The experience of Azienda Agricola Barduca, which uses xFarm as the best way to record its activities on more than 50 hectares of organic vegetables and to successfully pass inspections of its crops
| Nome | Azienda Agricola Barduca |
| Indirizzo | Via Piovega 49, Borgoricco (PD) |
| Colture | Baby leaf, ortaggi da cespo e cereali |
| Prodotti finali | Ortaggi dalla I alla IV gamma, pasta e farina |
| Estensione | 50 ha |
| Corpi aziendali | Sia in serra che in pieno campo, centro di trasformazione a Borgoricco (PD) |
We interviewed Laura Barduca, 30, agronomist and production manager at Azienda Agricola Barduca.
Horticulture is part of the Barduca family’s DNA, a family that has been growing vegetables for several generations.
The present-day company was founded in 1977 by Francesco Barduca, who continued the family tradition, while immediately embracing new technologies. As early as 1988, he understood the potential of salad processing, leading his company to become one of the first Italian farms to offer fresh vegetables that are washed, packaged and ready for consumption.
In 1999, in anticipation of Italian agricultural trends, the business was converted to organic farming, becoming an example of combining respect for the environment with technological progress.
Over the years, technology has continued to play an increasing role in the Barduca company. Two patents have been registered for packaging and processing, greenhouses have been automated, tractors have been equipped with assisted driving and electrical machinery is being installed.
In a similar context, the company needed a management portal dedicated to creating an activity log and Laura decided to test xFarm.
The needs of organic and processing farms are extremely important. Everything must be recorded and easily accessible, because there are frequent inspections and there is always the risk of human error when typing the information.
“Normally we record all activities on an Excel document, which we then print out when we need to show the data to the controller. The problem, however, is human error, which can compromise inspections and therefore cost us a great deal of money. What I was looking for was software that would help me smartly track everything that’s done in the field and reduce the number of manual entries”
Laura immediately discovered xFarm’s intuitive and highly visual interface. The fields are geolocalized and easily distinguishable directly on the map, the information is stored in the cloud and is accessible from mobile phones and computers, and hundreds of crops are available, including the most unique types of vegetables.
Moreover, the company does not only produce vegetables: when using the biological system, it is advisable to perform frequent rotations, which are carried out in the open field with cereals and green manure crops. The grains become excellent flours and BIO pasta, while the green manure ensures the maintenance of soil fertility, protects the soil from erosion and naturally decreases weed growth.
Using an agricultural management system such as xFarm also allows the company to monitor many different kinds of crops, saving time and optimizing choices through the use of objective data!
Companies that monitor the entire chain of specialized crops are very complex operations. The opportunity to have a single platform for recording activities, monitoring the warehouse and the machinery fleet and for consulting everything from anywhere, is certainly a great help.
“In the future I would like more methods of checking the data entered, perhaps interfaced directly with the safety data sheets of the BIO products we use, so that we can make extrapolations of the data and pass the inspections light-heartedly, showing what we have done without risking unintentional human errors. In addition, I would like to have a financial package that allows me to manage budgets and accounting based on agronomic choices made in the field”