Investment in technology dropped by 8% during 2024

“If investments in technology in the agricultural sector suffered a setback during 2024, the company size and aggregation in cooperative form are confirmed as extraordinary accelerators for the introduction of Agriculture 4.0 solutions.” This was said by Fedagripesca Confcooperative President Raffaele Drei speaking in Milan at the presentation of the report of the Smart AgriFood Observatory, curated by the Milan Polytechnic and the RISE Laboratory of the University of Brescia, dedicated to the study of technological solutions for the agri-food supply chain.

The Observatory’s latest survey showed that investments in
technology dropped by 8% during 2024, with spending standing at 2.3 billion euros (click here to read more). However, organization in the supply chain remains a decisive factor: in fact, if a 38% share of farms not involved in any kind of aggregation adopt digital solutions, the percentage rises to 44%in the case of farms that are members of cooperatives and 55% if they are part of POs (Producer Organizations).

“Numbers that attest in all their evidence,” commented Drei, “the relevance of the role that cooperation plays upstream, from the economic point of view and in the services offered to members, with its ability to systematize research projects, purchase of machinery, introduction of innovative technologies and services, as well as training projects to consolidate farmers’ skills. The advanced solutions and technical assistance that cooperatives provide are known to have costs that a farm alone cannot always afford.”

“The picture that emerges from the Observatory,” concluded President Drei, “once again attests to how the average company size is a real structural limitation for our industry, even from the point of view of modernization and innovation. There is a strong need for more aggregation to be able to meet the challenges of the digital transition.”

Source: Italy Fruit News

EDITOR: redazione@italiafuit.net

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