Agricultural mechanization: Club of Bologna agenda
The future of agro-mechanics was the subject during many of the discussions held as part of the annual meeting of the Club of Bologna, which is now celebrating its 35th anniversary. Research funding, biodiversity, regenerative agriculture and innovative technologies for forage mechanization were all hot topics. The next meeting will be in October 2025 at Agrilevante
The 33th Meeting of the Club of Bologna, the international organization that deals with strategies for agricultural mechanization and which numbers 110 members, including university professors, researchers and representatives of institutions in the agro-mechanical supply chain from 34 countries, was held at the EIMA International 2024 event.
Sponsored by FederUnacoma since 1989, the two day meeting – held on 12 and 13 November – hosted three different working sessions under the title “The future horizons of agro-mechanics”. The first, dedicated to "Creating value through public funding of research, development and innovation”, chaired by Peter Pickel (D), discussed trends in food innovation in Europe within the framework of the European project EIT Food, and R&D opportunities for industrial companies with US grants. The second session – chaired by Benno Pichlmaier (D) – discussed the topic “Biodiversity and regenerative agriculture: impact and relevance for agriculture. Challenges and opportunities for agricultural mechanization and technology”. The focus of the discussions were conservation and improvement of biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems, how to include biodiversity and ecosystem services in a sustainability strategy, and how to address the transition towards regenerative agriculture with digital solutions. The topic of the final session – chaired by Paolo Balsari (I) – was “Specialized mechanization: technologies for pasture management. Introduction to permanent grassland management”. The focus was on the frontiers of forage mechanization at the service of efficient livestock systems in a Climate Smart Agriculture strategy and trends for forage equipment. At the end of the meeting, the president of FederUnacoma, Mariateresa Maschio, presented the awards to the winners of the Pellizzi Prize, the competition promoted by the Federation in collaboration with the Accademia dei Georgofili that rewards the best theses on the subject of agricultural mechanization worldwide. First place was awarded to Lu Xun (CHI) for the thesis “Towards a sustainable use of plant protection products in orchards: implementation of a canopy-adapted spraying technology and new developments for the evaluation of spraying efficiency”; second place went to Zixuan He (USA) for his work entitled “Efforts for an effective robotic strawberry harvest”, and third place went to Xin Tian (USA) for his submission “Methods for reducing energy consumption in hydraulic systems towards the next generation of environmentally friendly and highly efficient agricultural tractors”.
On the eve of the meeting, the Club's Management Committee approved the appointment of the new president to succeed Paolo Balsari, of the Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Food Sciences (DISAFA) of the University of Turin, who has completed his second and final term as per the regulations. The new president is Danilo Monarca, of the Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE) of the University of Tuscia. Marco Fiala, of the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (DISAA) of the University of Milan, was confirmed as the technical secretary of the organization. The Management Committee has also changed personnel, and is now made up of: Giuseppe Gavioli (I), Paolo Gay (I), Roberto Oberti (I), Peter Schulze-Lammers (D), Peter Pickel (D), Deun Choi (USA), Spyros Fountas (GR), and Benno Pichelaimer (D). Fabio Ricci, assistant general manager of FederUnacoma, succeeds Marco Pezzini as representative of the Federation on the Management Committe, alongside of past presidents of the Club Ettore Gasparetto, Luigi Bodria and Paolo Balsari.
The next meeting will be held on 11 and 12 October 2025, and will, for the first time, take place during Agrilevante, the Mediterranean agriculture exhibition organized by FederUnacoma at the Nuova Fiera del Levante in Bari, from 9 to 12 October.
