Italian agriculture has a 4.0 future, the real challenge of the next few years will be in the digital world and in the company's capacity for innovation. As for large mergers, such as the one announced in recent days by Bayer and Monsanto, "they should not be demonized, we must take note of this and the institutions must be vigilant in order to correct any distortions: for example, in matters of competition, with careful management of the duration of patents". It is an image of agriculture undergoing profound change that Mario Guidi, 55 years old and president of Confagricoltura since March 2011, draws in this interview with FIRSTonline. “Even agriculture, like other business activities – he says – must evolve and update itself by looking at quality. Innovation does not conflict with tradition”. In fact, it is innovation that attracts young people and pushes the return of interest in the fields and above all in the most innovative agri-food, as the statistics certify. However, there is a lack of adequate tools, says Guidi, to support the leap in quality towards a more entrepreneurial activity and asks the government to include the new "precision agriculture" within the support mechanisms for businesses developed by the Ministry of Development .
Industry is struggling to take off, agriculture is growing: the latest Istat data for August certify this. Is the sector driving the recovery?
“Istat gives real numbers that need to be known how to read. They are the sum of positive and very dynamic realities and others that unfortunately struggle to adapt to change and that we are not supporting with adequate tools. Agriculture means many things: food, agritourism, energy production, product transformation. It is undoubtedly the sector that has the greatest opportunities for growth. The whole world wants to eat Italian and yet some companies are collapsing”.
How can this be explained?
“The regulations to manage the new challenges have not been created and now we are at a crossroads: we must push on the mergers and get involved as entrepreneurs with a leap in quality. Many of us already do it, others need to be accompanied towards transformation and for this we need a different approach to politics".
Young people are increasingly attracted to agriculture.
“Agriculture in Italy contributes around 3% to the GDP but if we consider all the activities that revolve around it, from packaging to transport, from processing to trade, the agri-food sector accounts for 17%. And young people are returning because the system is evolving in a positive direction: knowledge of the markets, innovation, the Internet. It is the digital evolution that attracts young people. Our future will be precisely in the ability to conquer shares of added value that up to now we have left to others”.
In this qualitative leap towards a more entrepreneurial agriculture, new horizons are opening up linked to the integrations between data suppliers - on water, seeds, fertilizers, the irrigation cycle - and digital companies such as Microsoft which, not by chance made a deal with Monsanto. Is Italian agriculture already invested in it? How is the sector moving?
“Agriculture is the sector that will benefit the most from the diffusion of broadband and ultra-broadband throughout the country, which today is insufficient, because the Internet is important precisely for those who, like farms, are decentralized with respect to large cities. Digital allows you to get more accurate weather forecasts, access e-commerce platforms, make targeted treatments. Machines themselves, like tractors, are now digital. So I wonder why instead of promoting laws to reduce the use of fertilisers, laws are not made to help farmers acquire the most advanced technologies which allow for a more selective use of products, cost savings and more efficient production. Precision agriculture is our future but Italy is behind. France and Spain, which have productions similar to ours, are far ahead of us. This is why we expect some innovations in the Stability Law that the government is preparing".
Bayer and Monsanto have announced the integration of their agrochemical businesses. A new giant is born, others are in pole position such as the announced Chemcina-Syngenta union. In your opinion, in this strategic sector for the planet, are worries about the risks of a monopoly on seeds well founded? Or does consolidation instead favor the development of biotechnologies and represent an opportunity for growth for agriculture?
“I think we should thank the multinationals for the evolutions made in genetics which have allowed us to improve and increase production capacity. Let's take a practical example: in the province of Ferrara in the 50s and 60s my grandfather was able to produce 1,5 tons of corn per hectare; today we reach 7-8 tons per hectare. Italian and European agriculture has grown together with the multinationals and we have already depended on them for seeds for a long time. I would add that there is not a single grain of corn in the world that is not patented. And I'm not talking about GMOs”.
So there are positives: large companies come together to bring together genetic knowledge, data backgrounds and achieve better results. The research effort is considerable and, as we know, Italy invests little in research and even less in agricultural research. The result is that the hybrid seeds produced by multinationals are of certified quality and are more performing. Those that could be produced in a small company, non-hybrid, are subject to aging, over time. This is especially true for corn, soybeans and cotton; a little less for wheat and rice”.
And the negatives? Are there no monopoly risks?
“At the moment I cannot detect dominant positions on prices. However, as the number of producers decreases, the issue must be kept under observation, not only from an agricultural point of view. Just as in pharmaceuticals, patents on molecules expire after a certain number of years and can be marketed by others, so too in seeds, careful management of the duration of patents will be needed to avoid cartels".
Can the phenomenon of integrations come into conflict with the quality of Made in Italy food that everyone envies us?
“It is possible, but only if we want it: you ask me if a San Marzano tomato or Carnaroli rice can be replaced by new, less tasty but more performing seeds. If they offer them to us we might be tempted to buy them but then who would want to buy our products? The new Carnak rice is very similar to the historic Carnaroli, it gets sick less so more is produced and is appreciated by the consumer. Is it good or bad? What interests us: good rice and sustainable agricultural production or a product that the farmer is no longer able to produce because the quantity per hectare is constantly decreasing? Agriculture must evolve, we learned it from our fathers”.
