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Milan, Nov. 21, 2024 - xFarm Technologies, a tech company that supports the work of 450,000 farms belonging to over 100 supply chains and covering more than 7 million hectares worldwide, and dss+ leading provider of operations management consulting services, have conducted the first survey on the readiness of Italian farmers to adopt practices that promote sustainability and resilience. The study, carried out on a sample of 1,000 farmers , identified several useful elements for designing appropriate improvement programmes in the field of regenerative agriculture. The study was presented at the Agri Data Green Summit, the event organized by xFarm Technologies with the contribution of Bericus to discuss new perspectives in the Agritech sector.
The world's population continues to grow, and with it the demand for food, while farmers face several challenges: climate change, limited availability of raw materials, cost control and ever-changing market demands. It is therefore necessary to look at sustainable agronomic techniques, such as regenerative agriculture. Production chains need a profound technological, cultural and organisational change to enable and sustain the necessary steps towards environmental sustainability. "xFarm Technologies and dss+ have been working together for a long time to support the evolution of agricultural production management. Now they have decided to ask farmers and breeders what they have to say, knowing that a top-down approach is no longer enough. We need an approach that focuses on the environment, but also on the issues that are important to those who actually work in the fields," said Matteo Peyron, Sustainability manager at dss+.
The survey, developed by xFarm Technologies, consisted of around 30 questions and was answered by 1000 farmers from all over Italy. 90% of respondents said they were interested in adopting more sustainable practices in their farm management. According to 30% of respondents, climate change is one of the main risks facing their businesses, along with rising costs. 25% of respondents said their business lacked the skills to move to more sustainable practices, 30% reported a lack of capital to start the change process, and 10% said it was difficult to involve contractors. In addition, 60% of respondents said they did not know what regenerative agriculture was.
The survey shows that contractual and market access benefits, the availability of farm management tools and training, and economic growth are seen as necessary to enable the spread of more sustainable practices in Italy. In fact, there is a relationship between farmers' willingness to apply new practices and their perceived economic viability. The most environmentally beneficial practices (such as agroforestry and no-tillage) are not always perceived as the most profitable ones.
The data from the survey will be instrumental in refining the approach to the core element of the collaboration between xFarm Technologies and dss+: the involvement of model farms, virtuous examples for sharing and testing improvement protocols with the participation of operators and supply chains. The results of this survey will be used to create a roadmap for progress with farmers and breeders, based on tangible results.
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