Fieragricola 2014: agri-appointment in Verona

The Verona Exhibition Centre will host the February 2014 edition of the biennial Fieragricola. Space to technological innovations for agriculture and mechanization, but also to meetings aimed at analyzing the problems of the primary sector

Back in Verona from February 6 to 9, Fieragricola, the event dedicated to all the "terms" of the primary sector, now in its 111th edition. The trade fair presents traditions, trends and innovations from the agricultural world and hosts the main enterprises of the sector on an exhibition area divided into five main thematic areas: machinery and farm equipments, agrosupplies for agriculture (crop protection products, fertilizers, seeds and nursery) and plant genetics, agricultural services, technologies and products for breeding and renewable energy from biogas and vegetable production. Two are the main novelties of Fieragricola in the field of agricultural engineering. The first concerns the specialization in pavilions 4 and 5, which will be entirely dedicated to vineyards and orchards, with tractors, specialized machines, products, services and nursery sector with a dedicated area of the Forum. The second concerns the development of external areas dedicated to demonstration tests of mechanization, with the staging of the grandstands for the public. Beside the agricultural mechanization, another main character of the Trade Fair is without doubt the livestock sector, which includes buffalos, poultry, sheeps and goats and two exhibitions dedicated to pig husbandry and beef cattle, with the Limousine, Charolaise, Piedmontese, Romagna and Chianina. During the exhibition will be held the 13th European Open Holstein Dairy Show, dedicated to the Fresian and the 46th National Exhibition of the Brown. Rich is the programme of workshops, talk show and meetings sponsored by Fieragricola in cooperation with institutions, research centres, universities, specialized press and industry associations. Many topics will be discussed, from greenhouse crops, soft pruning, sustainable agriculture, mechanization for bioenergy, to business opportunity of farmhouses, multifunctionality in agriculture and social farming, biodiversity, use of substrates and crop protection products, safety in agriculture, rural credit, animal welfare and the new CAP. During Fieragricola will be assigned the second edition of the awards Best Seller Award, an initiative sponsored by VeronaFiere awarding the best performances of the manufacturers of agricultural machinery in terms of sales. The magazine Macchine Trattori (Machine Tractors) is also a partner of the prize, which is awarded on the basis of 11 categories of registered vehicles in 2013, according to a ranking elaborated by the commercial head. FederUnacoma, partner in the organization of the Verona Trade Fair participates in Fieragricola with its own institutional stand (Centro Servizi Arena, between pavillions 6 and 7) and provides assistance and services to its members present and all visitors information on the represented mechanical and agricultural activities of the federation. On the convention, FederUnacoma then sponsors a press conference – scheduled for Thursday, February 6 at 3:00 pm at the Sala Bellini (Bellini Room) – during which will be illustrated the last data on the performance of agricultural machinery market in Italy and Europe and will be presented the new site Mondo Macchina online edition of Eima International 2014, the largest fair dedicated to agricultural machinery planned at BolognaFiere from November 12 to 16. On the international front, is expected in Verona the participation of foreign delegations coming mainly from Europe (Holland, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Turkey and Russia) but also from, Iran, Morocco, China and South America. For Fieragricola 2014, the organizers have also developed a dossier that collects the views of economists, academics and other main characters of the Italian agricultural sector on how agriculture is going to be in 2030. Some of the trends identified – with the awareness of the fact that keeping up with accelerating innovation registered in the last decades could prefigure for agriculture over three decades just "another world" – describe a reduction on the number of the enterprises and a major specialization in production, computer science, robotics and biotech. These will be the main characters of the primary sector with a high risk of "digital divide" and market expansion, resulting in increased competition and greater access to scientific findings, at the base of a new "green revolution". On the occasion of the 2014 event is finally sponsored by the exhibition the first edition of the Journalism Award Fieragricola-Veronafiere reserved for journalists and popularizers of Italian and foreign agricultural issues, with the aim of promoting the primary sector and making the public opinion aware of the importance of this production sector. Participants in the competition, which is sponsored by the European Network of Agricultural Journalists (Enaj), an institution representing the comunicators in the field of agriculture of 18 EU states, are invited to submit a paper in text, audio or video based on Fieragricola and the agricultural world it represents. The competition provides cash prizes to the top three winners and participants can submit their work by next May 15.