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Ronciglione (VT), May 28, 2024 - xFarm Technologies, the tech company that helps the agri-food sector to go digital, is continuing its work to digitalise the entire supply chain of the C.P.N. (the Italian acronym for the Cooperative of Hazelnut Producers) which has 160 members, with a total of 2,600 hectares of hazelnut groves. After the xTrap Stink traps for monitoring phytophagous insects, the cooperative, which is based in Ronciglione (about 60 km from Rome), is implementing other new technologies to cope with the consequences of the climate crisis and address the need to make operations in the hazelnut sector more efficient and ensure a responsible use of resources.
Italy is the world's second largest producer of hazelnuts. However, the climate crisis is making this cultivation increasingly difficult: digitalisation is an effective tool for protection and efficiency.
"C.P.N. is an innovative cooperative that we believe shares our vision of agriculture. Its aim is to make intelligent use of technology to obtain high quality products with a low environmental impact. Such an attitude is crucial for hazelnut cultivation, which is strongly affected by the consequences of climate change,"- said Gianluca Turco, AgriFood Sales Consultant at xFarm Technologies.
"We strongly believe in technological and digital innovation for an increasingly sustainable agriculture, with the aim of maintaining the excellence of our territory's hazelnuts high and protecting the environment," said Settimio Discendenti, president of C.P.N., " Collaboration with cutting-edge companies such as xFarm Technologies and fruitful institutional synergies are crucial to obtain high quality, competitive and low environmental impact products and to respond to the effects of climate change."
New phytophagous insects that attack hazelnuts have arrived in Italy as a result of climate change. One example is the brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys). This insect damages the product, and even affects its taste. This is why the C.P.N. began its first phase of digitalisation in 2022 by adopting the xFarm platform, and installing specific traps for this bug, the xTrap Stink. Thanks to a specific sensor and a detection algorithm, the traps allow data on the evolution of the insect's presence to be sent directly to the xFarm platform, a tool that helps farmers by giving them complete, real-time control of all aspects of their fields in a single app.
But the consequences of the climate crisis also make it necessary to increase the efficiency of field operations and ensure a responsible use of resources. In particular, the periods of severe droughts, that have become typical of Italian summers have necessitated the use of new tools such as the xSense weather stations and xNode soil moisture sensor. This equipment, supplied by xFarm Technologies and installed on C.P.N.'s plots allows water resources to be used more intelligently. The 19 weather stations allow for remote monitoring of the weather conditions in the different growing areas (temperature, rainfall, wind speed and cloud cover), while the soil moisture sensors allow the water status of the soil to be measured. The integration of these instruments with the The integration of these instruments with the Irrigation Module, a DSS (Decision Support Systems) included in the xFarm app, makes it possible to irrigate only when and as much as necessary, avoiding both plant stress and water waste.
The tropicalisation of the climate has made pathogens more aggressive and led to the emergence of new ones, such as the hazelnut powdery mildew Erysiphe corylacearum. To manage these threats, it is increasingly important to use predictive models that forecast disease development based on actual environmental conditions, and DSS that help farmers identify the best defence strategies. For this reason, xFarm Technologies has also provided the cooperative's companies with leaf wetness sensors and the Defence Module, which, thanks to predictive models and decision support systems, enables more informed use of crop protection products, limiting environmental impact and costs and better protecting crops.
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