Confagricoltura opens up to agro-photovoltaics not only on the roofs, but also on the fields: as long as it is managed by a public fund. This was stated by the president of the association, Massimiliano Giansanti, at the opening of the annual assembly of Confagricoltura, which took place in Rome on December 16: “I believe in a right mix between photovoltaic on the roofs and on the ground – says Giansanti -. Today there are fields in Italy that have low production capacity, and would still be abandoned: so why not use them to produce renewable electricity? Of course, in the past we have seen speculations that we will no longer want to relive, for this we need a public fund where farmers will be able to access the financialization of the plant they are going to build: a collection is made from institutional investors, it gives a return on investment made and the farmers will be the only owners and the only ones called to do so. It is important to find this vision in the Recovery Plan ».
At the assembly, the confederation also presented Hubfarm, the project carried out in collaboration with Microsoft and Reale Mutua to promote innovation in agriculture at 360 degrees, from big to drones, from sensors to satellites: “We want to give farmers the means and tools to produce more and more, in a sustainable way and with a strong focus on the ecological, digital and energy transition – said Giansanti -. For businesses, these technologies will also mean an administrative simplification of their business “. A fundamental role will be played by the territorial structures of Confagricoltura, which will provide the necessary support for the accompaniment and technological and digital transfer. The innovations and information data will not only be linked to the production of food goods, but will contribute to incentivizing the no-food supply chains, especially the energy ones. “So far we have talked about Agriculture 4.0 – concluded Giansanti – now I can say that we are working for Agriculture 5.0, which is projecting itself with determination into the future that is outlining the European Commission of an economic sustainability that must be combined with the environmental one, to win. the challenge of producing more with a lower environmental impact “.
“Agriculture must push innovation more than other sectors because it holds a piece of the environment that others do not control – said the Minister of Ecological Transition, Roberto Cingolani, speaking at the national assembly of Confagricoltura -. We have a duty to make the ecological transition as quickly as possible because we cannot afford the climate catastrophe, but also with the right slowness because we cannot afford the social catastrophe, so as not to do irreversible damage to those who already work ». For the future, added the minister, agriculture will also need new skills: «We need more and more interdisciplinarity: on the one hand farmers who know digital and artificial intelligence, on the other digital experts who know what the fields are asking for. And if we link the traceability of agri-food products to databases, algorithms and artificial intelligence, we will obtain useful information for long-term and geo-localized forecasts ».
The Minister of Agriculture Stefano Patuanelli, speaking at the assembly, instead assured that “this year in the budget law there are more than double the resources of the previous maneuver”. Patuanelli also said he was optimistic on the European front of parcel labels, which sees Italy firmly oppose Nutriscorse: «It is clear that something is changing in Europe. There is a feeling, but not only that, that a blocking minority is emerging. The point is that it is not enough to block Nutriscore – added the minister – but it is also necessary to create an alternative that goes in the sense of correct information. And in this regard we have strongly relaunched our Nutrinform proposal ».