Innovation in agriculture: preserving resources to protect businesses
How can we protect soil productivity and, with it, business sustainability? Without healthy soil, it's impossible to grow quality plants; without preserving the resources used in agriculture over the long term, production cannot be guaranteed. Sustainable agricultural production can pay off in the long run, not only as a way to attract consumers who are increasingly concerned about environmental and health issues, but also to address potential regulatory changes related to the ecological transition.
Grazia Masciandaro and Eleonora Peruzzi (IRET) study nature-based methods to provide agricultural businesses and soil bioengineering firms with tools that help preserve soil health in the long term. Many environmental wastes can be transformed into substances that can be reintroduced into the soil, including farm waste, which can supplement the nutrients needed for plant growth.
Matia Menichini (IGG) discusses projects on water use on farms, aimed at optimizing water withdrawals, minimizing waste, and reducing degradation before reintroducing it into the environment.
Ilaria Baneschi (IGG) and colleagues, thanks to the techniques developed in their analysis laboratory and the expertise they have acquired over time, can provide companies with tools to reduce the environmental impact of their production and processing. For example, by directing practices such as plowing or fertilization methods to maintain soil quality.
Andrea Berton (IGG), within the Pisa Area, works on the digitalization of agricultural areas. Data collected by drones or sensors appropriately positioned throughout the field is transformed into information critical to productivity, which is then returned to companies in a format that is immediately understandable and transferable to the crop. These techniques are so precise that they allow interventions on individual plants, to respond, for example, to a water or nutritional need of the plant itself.