From 4 to 6 May 2022, at the Rimini Fair, a whole dynamic area will be dedicated to the most advanced technologies for agriculture.
Macfrut 2022, the international fruit and vegetable fair organised by Cesena Fiera and scheduled from 4 to 6 May at Rimini Fiera, which will feature cherries, will present new technologies applied to agriculture 4.0, in the dynamic space Smart Agriculture. The result of collaboration between Macfrut and Ri.Nova (a research centre born from the merger of CRPV -Centre for Plant Research and Production- and Alimos), this exhibition area will host the most advanced technologies in the field of sensors, drones and robots, with the aim of demonstrating the link between innovation, environmental sustainability and the economics of fruit and vegetable production.
According to FAO figures, in 2050 agriculture will have to produce almost 501 TP3 T more food and biofuels than in 2012. This is because, according to the latest projections from the United Nations (UN), the Earth's population could reach 9.73 billion in less than 30 years. Agriculture 4.0, in this context, represents one of the most effective tools currently available to try to meet this need. The European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has also pointed out that the demand for healthy and optimally nutritious food is one of the greatest future challenges worldwide.
Alvaro Crociani, director of Ri.Nova, explains: «Today, the entire agricultural sector is facing new and particularly complex challenges. The Smart Agriculture project, in this sense, integrates perfectly with the specialized areas that we have already learned to know within Macfrut.«.
In fact, the European Union, through its “From farm to fork” strategy, also recognises the important role of new technologies as a means of achieving the goal of more sustainable agriculture. More precise and timely interventions, the integration of the supply chain and new operations made possible by robotisation represent the main tools that farmers will have to use to face the daily challenges of climate change. Macfrut is therefore a great opportunity to test these new solutions.
The dynamic spaceSmart Agriculturewill present many new features
Sensors:In recent years, the agricultural sensor industry has evolved rapidly. Starting from meteorological stations, soil probes, automatic traps, sensors and biosensors that directly detect the conditions of each plant have been added. In the near future, these instruments will play an increasingly important role in achieving the chemical reduction objectives set by recent European policies.
Drones: Technology is increasingly turning drones into the mobile sensors of the future, capable of bringing the sensitivity of surveillance instruments from the scale of the plot down to the scale of the individual plant. They make it possible to reach where satellites cannot provide a sufficiently precise view, and they also facilitate human inspection of crops through virtual or augmented reality, especially in the field of plant protection.
Robots:The market is beginning to offer important robotic applications for weeding, sowing and tilling. In addition, technology is advancing, albeit still at prototype level, towards harvesting crops that agricultural mechanisation could not automate, opening up the world of fresh produce to mechanical harvesting, which was the prerogative of industrial crops until recently. Power supply for robots plays an increasingly important role in this sector, given the high cost of energy and fuel. Autonomous agricultural robots, capable of working slowly but steadily unlike human-guided operations, represent a major opening towards the electrification of the agricultural sector, with particular reference to solar energy.
