Agricultural machinery "on display" at the G7 Expo in Syracuse

Over 80 agricultural machines were on display, from 21 to 29 September, in the streets and squares of Ortigia during the G7 Expo. Prime Minister Meloni's visit to the FederUnacoma stand. Mariateresa Maschio: agricultural mechanics are the linchpin of the new agriculture

By 2050, the world's population will reach 10 billion people, creating the conditions for an explosion in global food demand, especially in those emerging countries with higher birth rates. To meet this demand it will be necessary not only to cultivate new land, especially in those places - such as those in Africa - that feature greater agricultural potential, but also to recover degraded soils for cultivation and to make use of marginal soils as well. To achieve all these goals, it is essential to invest in those latest generation systems, such as autonomous robots, which allow for increased production yields, rationalizing the use of increasingly scarce production factors, and to mitigate the consequences of climate change. This is the strong message launched by the G7 Agriculture meeting and the event called “Divinazione”, which took place from 21 to 29 September, and which provided the backdrop to the summit of the “big seven”. Organized by the Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, Francesco Lollobrigida, the initiative was conceived as a large container in which all the salient topics of the primary sector would be give space and prominence. The undisputed focus of the event was placed upon agricultural machinery products, which, against the fantastic backdrop of Ortigia, easily took on the role of ambassadors of innovation. On the other hand, if food safety, sustainability and productivity of agricultural processes depend decidedly on the use of new generation systems – according to the association of manufacturers FederUnacoma that organized the machinery exhibition in Ortigia – then there is no one better than the machines themselves to testify to the general public the strategic centrality of technology for the primary sector. Agricultural machinery thus is a symbol of progress and development in the agricultural sector. 

Tractors, combine harvesters, round balers: all Made in Italy products presented at the G7. In total, the organizers of FederUnacoma put more than 80 mechanical vehicles on display in Ortigia with four evocative installations that recreated the typical settings of some Mediterranean agricultural landscapes. In the area in front of the Harbor Master's Office, what caught the eye was the recreation of a wheat field dominated by the imposing profile of a combine harvester, a tractor and other machines for open-field cultivation. The spaces of the Harbor Master's Office also hosted the reproduction of a vegetable garden with its specialized machinery, including a transplanter and a tractor with a loading platform. The Temple of Apollo was instead dedicated to olive growing, with the creation of an olive grove of native Sicilian varieties. In Via Minerva the rows of a vineyard and a citrus grove served as a backdrop to the latest generation equipment for viticulture and fruit growing. The spotlight in this area was on specialized tractors, sprayers and pruners, all excellent products made by Italian manufacturers.

Mariateresa Maschio's greeting to Prime Minister Meloni. It was the vineyard and orchard machines in Via Minerva that accompanied Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's visit to the FederUnacoma stand on September 21st. "Agricultural mechanics is a Made in Italy success story, and the linchpin of the new agriculture", said the president of FederUnacoma, Mariateresa Maschio, in her greeting to Prime Minister Meloni. “The range of products and systems exhibited in the specific areas within the exhibition - added the General Director of FederUnacoma, Simona Rapastella, present with the Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests, Francesco Lollobrigida - is the only way to protect the quality of production and biodiversity”. Research and innovation in the field of agro-mechanics - the message that the federation of manufacturers puts forth to the representatives of the Government - serves to resolve vital issues that affect the agricultural world, such as the scarcity of water resources, the loss of soil fertility, the need to make even impervious and marginal territories cultivable.