It was held in Mantua, as part of the Mantua Food & Science Festival, the conference "Agriculture between innovation and agro-energy", organized by Intesa Sanpaolo to present the results of an ad hoc survey on the agricultural and livestock sector in the provinces of Mantua, Brescia and Cremona conducted by the Lombardy Regional Directorate and the Studies and Group research, in collaboration with Confagricoltura Mantua, Brescia and Cremona. The conference also dealt with the very topical issue of agro-energy, i.e. the energy potential that can be obtained from the pro interviewees (3 out of 4 companies) have made investments in the last three years, while half of the companies declare that they have introduced innovations, especially organisational. The introduction of new technologies, capable of allowing a more prudent use of resources in agriculture, has emerged as a key factor not only for economic growth, but also in a broader perspective of sustainability.
Among the farms analysed, 1 out of 5 is equipped with a biogas plant and over a third of the companies have installed photovoltaic panels. Agro-energy, in addition to providing electricity for the functioning of companies, contributes to the formation of more than 30% of the turnover for over a quarter of farms. Among the topics that emerged, that of water takes on a significant weight: over 1 out of 4 of the companies in the sample declares that water is a limiting factor for their business and to these must be added a half of the companies that see water resources as a potential problem for the future. It is no coincidence that water saving, which the interviewees have already partially prepared to implement through targeted investments, appears in third position among the challenges for the future identified by farms and in fourth position for breeding farms. Closely connected to the theme of water resources is that of climatic instability, which mainly concerns agricultural companies.
The introduction of new technologies is seen as essential to face these challenges and those linked to market uncertainty, in a context in which emerging the need for generational change. Lastly, with a view to introducing and managing new and more complex technologies, the issue of training and hiring qualified personnel is relevant. The works concluded with a round table dedicated to local businesses, which was attended by Umberto Castagna, owner of the Bersella Agricultural Company and Pietro Angeli, owner of the Serraglio Agricultural Company, in dialogue with Gianluigi Venturini and Alberto Cortesi on the theme of agro-energy and development prospects for companies in the sector.
"Modern Italian agriculture produces high quality food and has increasingly sustainable methods for producing energy from renewable sources," he said. Gianluigi Venturini, Lombardy regional director of Intesa Sanpaolo. “It is a real revolution that can leverage, among other things, the enormous “green deposit” represented by the Po Valley. Today's meeting, primarily dedicated to the agricultural entrepreneurs of Mantua, Brescia and Cremona, is part of a broader process of support for the local economy, which to date has led our bank to be a point of reference for the sector in the country: in 2018 Intesa Sanpaolo disbursed over 2 billion euro to Italian agribusiness, of which over 300 million euro was allocated to Lombardy agro-industry companies. A growing trend also in the first part of this year”.
“The survey conducted and presented today – he declared Alberto Cortesi, president of Confagricoltura Mantua and of Mantova Agricola – is extremely appropriate in such an active province as that of Mantua, extremely dynamic both from an agricultural and agri-food point of view. To intervene effectively, continuing to leverage our strengths and at the same time identifying possible areas for improvement, it is essential to understand the evolution and investment areas of professionals in the sector: the results of this research go right into this direction, making it possible to develop a strategy that looks to the future and takes steps towards constant and increasingly lasting progress”.
