Drones, beneficial insects, common strategies: a conference to learn more about new tools in precision agriculture
“Techniques and technologies for sustainable agriculture”
The conference “Techniques and technologies for sustainable agriculture” was held on 29 April last, hosted by the Navarra foundation at Borgo Le Aie in Voghiera (province of Ferrara).
The conference, which began in the late morning to also allow those arriving from outside the region to attend, was divided into two moments: after the institutional greetings of the president Nicola Gherardi Ravalli Modoni, prof. Stefano Giatti illustrated a report on agriculture of yesterday, today and what will be tomorrow.
Four companies partnered at this conference: Aermatica3D, 2A1901 by Arvensis, Koppert and Agrigeodron. Companies that are very different from each other, but nonetheless connected in synergy to achieve a common result: sustainability. Professor Giatti then kicked off a round table where the partner companies took turns presenting each their own strategy, with a clear impression of common synergy.
Aermatica3D, based in Como, specializes, as Paolo Marras explained, in the construction of distribution kits for useful insects, powders, granules and liquids, to be mounted on drones for use in agriculture.
2A1901 is the direct distributor for Italy of Arvensis products (a company that produces biostimulant basic substances and microbiology), as reported by the owner Carlo Stagni. The company is booming throughout Italy.
Koppert is a world leader in breeding and distribution of beneficial insects for biocontrol in agriculture. Nicola Vicario (agronomist and entomologist) illustrated not only the whole world of beneficial insects and their functions, but also how much these techniques have taken hold in Italy as well.
Agrigeodron, owned by Raimondi Luca (one of the founding partners of the Ferrara start-up), is a very young company but is already among the first in Italy to offer agricultural services with very sophisticated technologies, linked to the world of drones.
The company today boasts a fleet of aircraft made up of 7 professional drones with various characteristics, from survey drones weighing around 4 kg, to then move on to insect distribution with weights ranging from 6 to 25 kg to liquid distribution ones that can approaching 150 kg. The second phase of the conference took place in the field with a practical demonstration of Agrigeodron’s survey and distribution drones, giving a better idea of how much this technology can help the entire agricultural sector. The field test was carried out by a 17-year-old student of the Navarra Brothers Agricultural Institute, Raimondi Matteo (the youngest and most trained technician in Italy), on aeronautical systems of this type, who demonstrated his great capabilities of drone pilot with maximum weight up to 150 kg.