Eima 2021, the agromechanical industry on show

Over 270 thousand visitors of which almost 26 thousand came from abroad; 116 between seminars and conferences; and a frenetic promotional-commercial activity for the 1,350 exhibiting industries in a world showcase open for five intense days. Guinness numbers those of Eima 2021, the international exhibition of agricultural mechanics and gardening, organized by FederUnacoma and closed in Bologna on Saturday 23 October. Five intense days (it was inaugurated on Tuesday 19) of knowledge and business in which the world of fields and technological-digital innovation linked to agriculture consecrates the Bologna exhibition as a leading event in the trade fair panorama. A double success because it comes while the repercussions of the health emergency are still worrying. "Eima wanted to go on stage this year, despite the inevitable defection of exhibitors and visitors from some countries that are still in a health emergency - said Alessandro Malavolti, president of FederUnacoma, the association of Italian manufacturers, patron of the 'event - and despite the skepticism of all those who aimed to freeze it until November 2022. The data - he adds satisfied - proved us completely right ». A key event both for the number of visitors but also for "the quality of the public, largely made up of economic operators, interested in new products and the purchase of technologies suitable for the most diverse agricultural contexts", explain the organizers.

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY The 44th edition of the Bolognese review marked a milestone especially in the fertile world panorama of advanced and digital mechanization. Agriculture 4.0 was one of the most followed aspects this year. Of particular interest is the survey carried out by Cnr-Stems, University of Roma Tre, L'Informatore Agrario and FederUnacoma, on the propensity of agricultural and agromechanical companies to invest in machines and systems for the digitization of agriculture and in green technologies. A research on a sample of over 450 companies, which highlighted a greater willingness to invest in green technologies by the more structured companies, in particular those operating in animal husbandry where the issue of pollution is most felt, or in the fruit and vegetable supply chain in where sustainability translates into added value. Strongly innovative tools that require new skills and a new way of doing agriculture. One figure, which emerged in Bologna, is enough to understand: over 90% of machines today are connected to remote maintenance and support systems. An evolution that requires high specialization in the company. This is how professional figures such as the “connected support” expert, the consultants in “integrated solutions” and the “technical communicator” were born, who have direct access to the entire flow of information in the production process. Specialists in the technological avant-garde able to operate a machine at 100% of its potential. And again on the agriculture 4.0 front, the Transfarm community project should be remembered, which involves, in addition to Italy, Austria, Poland, Slovenia and Hungary. A work, presented at BolognaFiere, for the diffusion of advanced precision agriculture aimed, for example, at exploiting methods to reduce the consumption of water and chemicals with positive economic and environmental effects. Heart of the project (which also includes Crea, the Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of the Agricultural Economy among its partners) 3 crucial innovations: the use of new Isobus, a sort of computer language to make tractors communicate with the equipment produced by the different brands; the use of sensors with which the dispersion of sprayed products in the open field is reduced, and finally the constant presence of artificial intelligence to obtain useful information for the farmer. Transfarm 4.0 will end in June 2022 and then pass on the know-how to local and regional authorities in charge of spreading digital technologies in agriculture.

GREEN REVOLUTION Eima 2021 as the driving force of ecological and environmental protection issues for an agromechanical industry that is increasingly attentive and sensitive to the protection of the landscape and health. And it could not be otherwise at a time when agricultural machinery and technologies are increasingly entirely governed by computers, cameras and sensors, capable of analyzing all environmental parameters and guaranteeing the calibrated use of water, respect for the organic substance of land, the scientific use of all production factors. From satellite systems an X-ray of the terrain and high-precision mapping, drones capable of recording environmental data and monitoring plants. Sophisticated computer systems autonomously manage the movements of the machines in the field, and the enormous flow of information collected is conveyed through the networks into specialized databases. Among the five thematic exhibitions, one, Eima Digital, was dedicated to electronic, computer and satellite systems applied to agricultural machinery and equipment. Not only. In view of the announcements made by Brussels to reduce C02 emissions, great attention has been given to the strategic sector linked to vehicles powered by ecological fuels for environmental protection, already a reality for many manufacturers of engines for tractors. At the moment there is talk of a hypothesis according to which the ban on the sale of internal combustion engines for self-propelled vehicles for agriculture should come into force from 2035. The agricultural machinery industry is working on the creation of electric or hydrogen-powered motors. Hybrid or methane-fueled engines with lower environmental impact are on the market.

I ROBOT Bologna was also an opportunity to take stock of the most advanced electrification and automation systems for agricultural machinery. On an international scenario, it was found that today there are about a hundred agricultural robots, many still in the prototype phase. The leaders of the sector are the USA with twenty-four robots, sixteen come from Dutch groups, twelve from French companies and seven from German companies in the sector. Four examples of the latest generation robots are Made in Italy, on an equal footing with the English, Danish and Spanish. The data developed by L'Informatore Agrario, together with Francesco Marinello, professor of Agricultural Mechanics at the University of Padua, reveal how "44% of the robots produced so far are destined for herbaceous crops, 35% for trees , 21% of which are horticultural. And they are overwhelmingly powered by an electric (78%) or diesel (14%) motor. Only 8% are hybrid. Finally, just 3% is an autonomous tractor while over 30% is intended for mechanical weeding or harvesting. Together with the electric machines, the robots respond to the demand for greater control and transmission capacity and higher efficiency. «On board the agricultural machine - explains Francesco Marinello - the mechanical energy conversion efficiency varies according to the type of propulsion». With petrol it fluctuates between 20 and 30%, with electric accumulators between 70 and 90%. "The price per kilo of lithium batteries has been steadily decreasing for ten years now, unlike that of diesel per ton, which in recent years has shown a trend towards growth and whose value depends on many factors, including those geopolitical ".

THE MARKET The Bolognese review also highlighted the good moment that the sector is experiencing. The registrations of tractors in the first nine months of the year grew by 43.8%, and strong increases recorded all the other types of machines. A trend, it was repeated, that at the end of the year will reach "an overall turnover of the Italian industry of no less than 14 billion euros". The great success of this edition therefore bodes well. The excellent restart is already behind us, but the reconfirmation is also expected in Bologna with Eima 2022, from 9 to 13 November.