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Sept. 29, 2023, Milan - The second edition of theAgri Data Green Summit (Sept. 29, 2023, Swiss Chamber of Commerce in Italy, Milan), the event organized by tech company xFarm Technologies which featured numerous supply chain players to pool skills and knowledge with the aim of accelerating the digital transition of the agri-food sector. More than 20 companies were involved, including Osservatorio Smart Agrifood, Barilla Group, Engie, Argo Tractors, Amazon Web Services (AWS), AGRI Lab SDA Bocconi School of Management, Andriani, FederUnacoma, Mascar, CNH Industrial, PFN Precision Farming Network, Parmalat Lactalis Group, Riso Gallo, dss+, Zurich Italy, Granlatte (holding company of the Granarolo Group), Areté, and Confagricoltura, whose delegates in turn gave presentations and panel discussions on how the application in the field of technology and in particularArtificial Intelligence are key to achieving sustainability goals.
Coping with climate change by providing the sector with new tools for risk management, spreading regenerative agriculture practices to increase carbon sequestration, and in the future enabling new forms of income for farms are current perspectives that the entire supply chain will have to accept to ensure stable and sustainable productions. Agricultural machinery and equipment, which are increasingly connected and capable of generating useful data for the entire supply chain, including food companies, will also play a key role. The latter will thus be able to work in a much more precise way to go about reducing scope 3 emissions-the indirect ones-that account for a large slice of the equivalent CO2 emitted to produce the food we consume every day on our tables.
In order to achieve this new model of agriculture, in addition to the use of new technologies, such as those related to Artificial Intelligence, it is essential to adopt a new approach and to work, including through the work of trade associations and all other stakeholders, on the dissemination of new skills. Digital innovation does not only mean developing new software and technologies, but rather responding in a different and new way to real and widespread problems. Even in agriculture.
"Artificial Intelligence is a complex technology but one that, when used correctly, can simplify the activities of thousands of farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs. As xFarm Technologies, our goal is to make farms efficient through a technological tool that is easy to use and interoperable, that is, able to interact with multiple technologies and actors. In fact, the supply chain and machinery should not be a closed system; in order to achieve important goals in terms of efficiency and sustainability, it is indeed necessary to create an ecosystem in which all the actors involved are interconnected. Helping agricultural enterprises in digitization is not easy but there are great opportunities and we can enhance both farmers and the enterprises themselves thanks to the increasingly accurate data we can collect and interpret," says Matteo Vanotti, CEO of xFarm Technologies.
Kicking off the proceedings, with moderation by Antonio Iannone of Thefoodcons, was the speech by Maria Pavesi, Senior Researcher of theSmart Agrifood Observatory, Politecnico di Milano and University ofBrescia, who explained the level of use of digital solutions by agribusiness companies. TheAgriculture 4.0 market in2022 has grown by +31% compared to 2021, with an estimated value of 2,100 million euros, and is composed of 65% by monitoring systems of means and equipment and related machinery, 20% by monitoring systems of crops, soils and infrastructure finally 9% by management software and DSS (decision support systems).
This was followed by the first panel discussion, "Artificial Intelligence: increasing knowledge to increase productivity," where Michele Zerbini, Soft Wheat & Flours Italy & Galliate Mill Purchasing and Senior Manager at Barilla Group, Isaia Puddu, General Manager Granlatte (holding company of the Granarolo Group), Emanuele Cabini, Farm manager Engie, and Antonio Salvaterra, Marketing Director at ArgoTractors, dialogued, sharing the digitalization paths they have taken in their respective realities.
"The goal of using data in the project shared with xFarm Technologies is to evolve our "Mill Charter" from its original focus centered on Biodiversity to the additional focus of environmental sustainability. In fact, the data we collect are used for two reasons: first, to calculate the environmental impact of soft wheat supply chain cultivation, to assess its current status, but also to understand which areas are the most impactful and give feedback to the farmer, building strategies with positive impacts on the entire agricultural sector. The data are then used to define patterns that can become effective and efficient suggestions for farmers, advising them how to get the best out of their crops. This is to cope with climate change, varying soil conditions and the many other variables that affect cultivation. The ultimate goal is to be able to help grow more grain per hectare of quality appropriate to the user's needs while using as few resources as possible." - comments Michele Zerbini, Soft Wheat & Flours Italy & Galliate Mill Purchasing and Senior Manager at Barilla Group
"Argo Tractors' development plans include very ambitious goals in the area of digitization of agricultural processes. These processes-which are still ongoing-have come to life thanks mainly to major investments in digital services, Isobus technology, telematics, remote diagnostics and assisted driving. The App Landini Farm and McCormick Farm represent a concrete response by Argo Tractors to the need of agricultural entrepreneurs to manage their farms in 360 degrees. With theApp it is possible to study and apply agronomic models, create prescription maps, integrate field sensors, and define traceability and sustainability protocols. We are not addressing the topic at a theoretical level, all of this is already reality and available on the market," comments Antonio Salvaterra, marketing director of Argo Tractors.. "Farmers and agro-mechanics can digitize their farms, an evolution that is essential to increase the quality of work and pay greater attention to the environment, resource use and quality of life," adds Salvaterra.
In light of how the relationship between enterprises, users and Artificial Intelligence has changed, Antonio D'Ortenzio, Senior Manager, Solutions Architecture - Italy, Amazon Web Services (AWS) explained how the role of the Cloud has been innovative and strategic in that it has not only unlocked the potential of Artificial Intelligence butalso made it more democratic. In fact, every company in every segment, size, and industry can now rely on hardware capacity that was unimaginable just a few years ago and the availability of constantly updated solutions, making tasks that were once impossible possible.
In the past, the key to the future: the great protagonist of the event was also technology applied to agriculture, a sector seen as strongly traditional but which, precisely because of this, has great potential for development through digitization. Talking about regenerative agriculture, as emerged from the dss+ talk, means addressing sustainability issues, enabling the primary sector to increase its resilience and contribute concretely to issues of mitigation and especially adaptation to climate change. All without losing sight of the important aspect of productivity.
Indeed, within the roundtable discussion "Technological Innovation and Data to Enhance Sustainability, Regenerative Agriculture and Productivity," it emerged how the great contemporary challenge is above all the need to look at agriculture with new eyes, aiming to increase the resilience of the sector, adapting to climate change and harnessing agricultural activity to contribute to its mitigation, all with the integration of new technologies. Technologies among whichArtificial Intelligence, data collection and digital in general certainly play a special role, along with the role of good agricultural practices. Many successful strategies emerged during the speeches by Andriani, Mascar, Riso Gallo, CNH Industrial and PFN Precision Farming Network.
Finally, after expanding and exploring the scope of action of the primary sector, facing so many new challenges or so many old challenges in a new way, it was inevitable to also question innovation pertaining to results and expectations. During the panel discussion "Agriculture and the Future: Towards new business models" there were testimonies from Alessia Truini, Head of Marketing, Customer Office & Direct Channel of Zurich Italy, Paolo Bulgarelli, Milk Purchasing Quality Manager and Open innovation ambassador of Lactalis Group, Enrica Gentile, CEO and Founder of Areté, Nicolò Mascheroni, Director of Strategies at Confagricoltura-Enapra, and Alessandro Bucciarelli, Head of Agronomic Products and R&D at xFarm Technologies with the intention of giving space, each in his or her field, to the new opportunities generated by the transformation of food systems.
"Today, technology and data have become even more strategic: satellite monitoring, predictive analytics and machine learning are just some of the tools that are bringing us closer to an Agriculture 4.0. Through innovation specific to the agri-tech segment, our partnership with xFarm aims to expand the offer to protect the agricultural sector, allowing us to test the potential of the most cutting-edge solutions," comments Alessia Truini, Head of Marketing at Zurich Italy.
"Innovation is in our DNA, and with this project we set ourselves a triple purpose : Tostudy pioneering practices in favor of animal welfare, to guarantee the consumer a product increasingly in line with sustainability requirements, and to lay the foundations for an increasingly evolved and technologically advanced profession," says Paolo Bulgarelli, milk purchasing quality manager for Parmalat and Castelli - Lactalis Group Italy - Together with xFarm and in synergy with our milk conferters, we are building a app that can make data on the main barn parameters usable in real time, to understand how the animals are fed, how the food for them is produced, how the digestive and manure management process takes place: knowing how the stables of our feeders operate is the first step to comparing data and sharing the right solutions to reduce their environmental impact, for a benefit for them, for us, and also for the consumer."
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