Sustainability, innovation and competitiveness, these are the key words to give a long-term perspective to Italian olive production. With the recent approval of the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan by the European Commission, the sector has a great opportunity to relaunch, focusing on the concept of environmental sustainability and pushing on the pedal of technological innovation to increase productivity. This is the focus of the webinar From production to transformation: the ecological transition for the olive sector which was attended, among others, by Dino Scanavino, president of Cia-Agricoltori Italiani, Gennaro Sicolo (Italia Olivicola) and Benedetto Fracchiolla of Finoliva, as well as Donato Pentassuglia, Councilor for Agriculture of the Puglia Region and Professor Luca Sebastiani, director of the Life Sciences Institute at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa. Sustainability – Professor Sebastiani began – is a dynamic concept, which must always be closely linked to the technological aspect. There is often aerroneous perception of innovation as the enemy of ecological sustainability and the desire for an archaic return to the origins for good agricultural practices. In reality, agriculture has always been the result of innovation and without this it is impossible to achieve the goals of sustainable development. Technical and technological innovation, as well as organizational and social innovation, is therefore an indispensable tool, but in the Italian reality there is still a long way to go.
The technological backwardness
Less than half of the farms, in fact, dealt with the topic of artificial intelligence and precision agriculture. In the olive sector, only a third of companies have invested in new machinery and equipment, either for poor financial capacity or for lack of incentives. In the oil sector – Sebastiani recalls – climate change and the lack of water resources have had a heavy impact on productivity, despite world demand and consumption are constantly increasing. To be more competitive in the international market and to seize all market opportunities, entrepreneurs will therefore have to evolve towards sustainable intensification, using digital systems to increase their efficiency. Favor theprecision agriculture also decisive for the fight against plant diseases and the reduction of pesticides, as well as mechanization can reduce production costs and make processes more efficient. The olive tree – explained Gennaro Sicolo – is one of the crops that most represent the identity of our country, it is necessary invest to enhance the quality of made in Italy and the more than three hundred native cultivars, but to do all these challenges, huge financial levers are required.
Cia: Pnrr an opportunity to innovate the sector
Regarding the topic of investments in technological innovation, the CIA president, Dino Scanavino, intervened to discuss the important opportunities connected to the NRP. In the National Recovery and Resilience Plan – said Scanavino – there are several interesting proposals for olive growers. From the renewal of the vehicle fleet in order to reduce emissions, to promote supply chain contracts, incentives for the installation of photovoltaic panels and logistics, as well as opportunities for the modernization of agricultural machinery useful for the milling of olives. Finally, with a view to circular economy, the plan also includes the modernization of the processing, storage and packaging of food products, with reuse of by-products for energy purposes, particularly relevant in the oil transformation process.