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The project is promoted by Italia Ortofrutta - National Union of Fruit and Vegetable Producers while the scientific leader is theDepartment of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences of the University of Perugia. Thanks to digital precision agriculture tools, it will identify good practices for the sustainable management of hazelnut groves, optimising the use of inputs such as water, fertilisers and pesticides.
The project is co-financed by 7 hazelnut producer organisations (such as AOA, AGRINOLA, ASPROCOR, COPRONT, CPN, ECOLAZIO and EURONOCCIOLA). Four experimental fields will be set up to carry out comparative tests between precision and conventional farming methods. The fields were offered by four Producer Organisations in areas located in the main hazelnut growing areas in Italy: Lazio, Campania and Piedmont.
xFarm Technologies, the tech company that helps the agri-food sector to go digital, is participating as a technical partner in the applied research project.
The project began in early 2024 with the installation of sensors provided by xFarm Technologies to run the experimental trials: professional weather station, leaf wetness sensor, bug trap, volumetric sensor and remote automated irrigation management. The aim is to refine and validate agronomic and phytopathological models to provide producer organisations with tools, best practices and validated and replicable protocols to improve the economic and environmental sustainability of hazelnut groves.
To this end, the pilot farms also used the xFarm agronomic management platform, with its Irrigation, Insect, Satellite and Defence modules, to test their predictive and DSS models during the trials supervised by the university.
Within each producer organisation, the data from the areas managed using conventional practices will be compared with the results obtained from the plots where hazelnuts are grown according to the indications of the University and with the help of the platform. "In the plots where precision agriculture will be applied, irrigation will be managed remotely by returning volumes of water based on the real needs of the crop and the specific soil conditions by applying the evapotranspiration balance. The sensors in the field will allow the DSS to be supplied with crop-specific data and to constantly monitor the water status of the soil," explained Vincenzo Tommaseo, Agronomic Product Manager at xFarm Technologies.
On the other hand, fertiliser management will be carried out by means of a fertilisation plan based on the balance of macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) which will be drawn up by xFarm Technologies in collaboration with the technicians of the producer organisations under the scientific supervision and coordination of the University of Perugia . The fertilisation will have to meet the needs of the crop, depending on the soil, the age of the plants and the fertiliser distribution system, avoiding nutrient imbalances, also using satellite images to create prescription maps for precise fertiliser distribution. "The Satellite module will also allow the creation of prescription maps for variable rate fertilisation, which will help to save costs, increase yields and reduce waste and environmental impact," said Alessandro Bucciarelli, Head of Agronomic Products & R&D at xFarm Technologies .
As far as crop protection against insect pests is concerned, pheromone traps for catching and counting hazelnut bugs and a forecasting model based on GDDs (Growing degree days) will make it possible to intervene early in the event of infestation, reduce the use of phytosanitary products and increase the effectiveness of treatments, with a positive impact on the organoleptic qualities of hazelnuts, which will be saved from the defects caused by bug attacks.
In addition, in collaboration with the University of Perugia, an experimental protocol will be developed to create a predictive model to support decision making in plant disease control strategy. To collect data on the crop, the protocol will be applied to the target pathogens - hazelnut powdery mildew (Phyllactinia corylicola) and cytospora canker (Cytospora corylicola) - and to the macro- and micro-climatic parameters of the production areas. Three rounds of trials will be needed over the three years to collect the data needed to calibrate and validate the phytopathological models.
"The project is a big step for Italia Ortofrutta's hazelnut producer organisations, which are aware of their role as lead enterprises and intend to make hazelnut cultivation evolve towards a more environmentally friendly model. Through the project, the producer organisations will reduce the main inputs used in hazelnut cultivation," said Vincenzo Falconi, Director of Italia Ortofrutta.
"Having the scientific responsibility for this project allows us to transfer our know-how and innovations directly to the companies for the benefit of the entire sector," said Professor Alessandra Vinci of the University of Perugia.
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