EXPO 2015, a "focus" on agicultural engineering
As part of the large exhibition dedicated to food, FederUnacoma's press meeting was held in Milan, where it presented its information and promotion initiatives. The Italian food system has great potential – stated Chairman Massimo Goldoni – but without a policy for mechanization, it's destined to lose competitiveness
«EXPO 2015 is a celebration of food, but it is also a celebration of agriculture, in which mechanization has a role; it is with this perspective that the Italian association of agricultural machinery manufacturers FederUnacoma wanted to take part in the Milan exposition.” With these words, Chairman Massimo Goldoni greeted the participants at the press meeting held on 11st June, at the Teatro della Terra, within the Biodiversity Park of EXPO 2015, to present the FederUnacoma initiatives within the large international event. The variety and quality of our food depend on rural areas, farming techniques and above all on the level of mechanical technologies used in agricultural processing - explained Goldoni – which is why mechanization must have a place, and an important place in this exposition space. FederUnacoma at EXPO – which participates in the Confindustria exhibition “Fab Food. The factory of Italian taste”, takes part in the Federalimentare exhibition “Cibus is Italy”. It has an institutional stand in the Biodiversity Park and organizes together with Confagricoltura a demonstration event of machines in the field, in Becedasco Basso, in the province of Piacenza (July 3-4) – providing an opportunity for an economic and political assessment of the value and the criticality of agri-food chains.
Italy is in third place in Europe for the total value of production after France and Germany - said Goldoni - and in second place for added value.
The ability of our agriculture to produce value integrates with the excellent know-how of the national food industry, which with its more than 130 billion in sales is the third largest in Europe after Germany and France. Also in terms of internationalization, Italian agri-food exports are in sharp growth, having reached 34.3 billion euros, an increase of 77% over the past decade.
These results are extraordinary – noted Goldoni – if you think of the structural limits on Italian farms, considerably smaller than the European average, and when you consider the overall availability of arable land, which sees our country only in seventh place in the continent, with less than 13 million hectares as against, for example, 28 million in France.
The competitiveness of our system is thus linked to the technology inputs, and in particular to agricultural mechanization, able to make our products competitive.
While the growth of mechanization has walked hand in hand with the growth of the agri-food system, we must be concerned that the crisis of mechanization may cause damage to the entire system.
The chairman of the manufacturers noted that the crisis in the agricultural machinery market, which saw tractor registrations fall by 45% between 2004 and 2014, is starting to have repercussions on the productivity of the food system, which seems to have stalled in recent years.
