.” Following this ideal opening of an assembly organized by the publication Informatore Agrario, FederUnacoma, Nomisma and Cattolica Assicurazioni, Martina explained, “For me these questions are the mother of all questions because behind issue of young people in agriculture is one on innovation of technologies and modernization.” He went on to say that the matter of modernization is, above all, that of the renovation of machinery which has to be supported by suitable financial instruments and credit policies which show greater flexibility. Getting back to investing in mechanization, the gateway is providing very real support for the domestic market where, in the wake of the drastic decline in sales of tractors registered in recent years, sales appear certain to fall below 19,000 units in 2015. This was the figure reported during an Agrievolution/CEMA press conference which mapped out the scenario for the agricultural machinery market for 2015. Richard Markwell, the president of the association which represents the European association of agricultural machinery manufacturers, said, “In Europe, 2014 should close with a 5% market decline compared to 2013.” In spite of this, with a volume of € 26 billion for agricultural machinery, the old continent – which is displaying various trends among the different countries – is not only hitting the mark of better than ever performances but is confirmed as the leading world market in terms of value ahead of the United States at € 21 billion, and China at € 14 billion. As regards the forecasts for 2015, the reduction of agricultural commodity prices and the unknowns linked to the application of the new payments system under the Common Agricultural Policy will lead to a further decline of between 5% and 10%, according to CEMA. The CEMA evaluations are confirmed by the analyses of the scenario carried out by Agrievolution, which brings together the leading world's agricultural machinery manufacturers associations. An Agrievolution press release reported that following the record levels reached in 2013, the world agricultural machinery market can be expected to decline in production by some 5% in 2014 followed on by another marginal reduction in 2015. The association took the outlook that in the coming six months sales should continue to encrease in Asia and Oceania. On other big issues in agriculture discussions were held in a conference entitled, Contractors, A Resource for Italian Agriculture, organized by CONFAI, ENAMA, FederUnacoma, UNACMA, UNIMA and under the sponsorship of BKT. According to the findings of Nomisma research made public at the conference, the services of contractors are requested for as many as 534,000 farming enterprises, 33.4% of the total, with land area coming to the total of 5.6 million hectares to account for 44% of the nation's usable agricultural areas (UAA). Between 2000 and 2010 this demand for contractors grew considerably, by about 100%. Nomisma also disclosed that 18,000 contractor enterprises out of a total of 31,000 carry out one or more phases of operations for third parties' lands using their own machinery, selling commitments for as many as 921,584 days of work, equal to 23% of all days of operations conducted by contractors in agriculture. On entrepreneurship in agriculture, Agri 2000 presented the 2014 Observatory Report on innovation in farming enterprises under the heading, Sustainability in Processes and Production Profitability: At What Point are Italian Agricultural Enterprises? A conference promoted by AIIA, FederUnacoma and the University of Pisa took up the issue Agriculture and Legality: the Contribution of Research in Agrarian Mechanics and the Manufacturers of Agricultural Machinery at the Free Consortium to open a window on the social responsibilities of enterprises and other significant social issues.
Coming to the fore on the second day of the exposition was the matter of agro-energy with a workshop promoted by Aiel/Cia/Agia in collaboration with FederUnacoma and ENAMA named, #RenewablesYoungAgriculture, The Energy of the Future during which young farmers recounted the experiences they had gained in the sector. Decidedly technical issues were handled in two seminars backed by ITABIA, the Italian Biomass Association, in connection with the EIMA Energy salon under the titles, The Biomass Resource: Key Factor for the Development of Bio-Economies and Green Chemistry and European Projects on Forestry Mechanization and Biomass: INFRES and SLOPE. Technical points were also at the center of the conference Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation, AEF: Situation and Panorama of Activities sponsored by AEF/FederUnacoma. Another assembly put on by the Polytechnic University of the Marche, CNR Imamoter and CRA dealt with the issue, Innovative Supply Chain for the Transformation of the Fraction Shoveled Manure into Pelleted Organic Fertilizer – Results of the FITRAREF Project Financed by the Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policy. Train the Trainer was the name of a meeting sponsored by AEF.
The second day of the trade fair also witnessed a large number of press conferences staged by the companies Mitas, Kuhn Italia, Agco (Haversting Breganze) and New Holland. Among the media events was the presentation of the 47th edition of Agriumbria with the participation of the Umbriafiere President Lazzaro Bogliari and ENAMA Director Sandro Liberatori who provided a preview of the third edition of the Safety Competition to be held during the run of the Bastia Umbra trade fair.
Today marks the opening of appointments with a workshop for in-depth studies sponsored by the Informatore Agrario publication which will accompany other EIMA events until Saturday, the 15th. The titles set for today are Agri-Pharmaceuticals: Innovations in Use and Sustainability, Agri-Food: Job Opportunities for Agronomists and Integration of Supply Chain. Among the fixed appointments for EIMA International 2014 are the round of seminars promoted by EuDaimon Engineering on Safety and Environment – Norms Required for Agro-Industry sector, Voluntary Certification in Agro-Industry Sector and New Scenarios and Opportunities for Development: RDP 2014 2020.
Bologna, 13 November 2014
