ORTIGIA (SYRACUSE) (ITALPRESS) – Agriculture is one of the engines of the Italian economy. A sector, the agricultural one, that faces many challenges: among Southern European countries, for example, Italy leads in water and pesticide consumption.
Two essential resources, certainly, but whose incorrect use risks compromising the balance of ecosystems and the health of soils.
In this context, there is a supply chain that represents one of the jewels in the crown of our agricultural production system, and that is tobacco: with more than 13,000 hectares cultivated in 2021, Italy was confirmed as Europe’s leading producer, surpassing total EU production by almost a third.
The challenge awaiting the tobacco sector is to combine the richness and tradition of Italian agriculture with a more sustainable management of resources.
This is the scenario in which BAT Italia operates, a leading company in consumer goods with a multi – category product portfolio, as well as a major player that has always been committed to supporting the reference supply chain and its optimization.
Precisely by virtue of its role as an active player in this sector, BAT Italia has decided to launch an innovative and revolutionary project, WePlant, an initiative that, thanks to a data – driven approach, use of satellite data and advanced apps, aims to transform crop management, by making water consumption more efficient and reducing the use of chemicals, thus contributing to precision and more sustainable agriculture.
WePlant was presented today as part of the panel titled “Technological Innovation in the Agricultural Sector” held in Ortigia during the G7 Agriculture and Fisheries in the presence of Sergio Marchi – Head of Policy Secretariat Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, Andrea Di Paolo – Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Director BAT Italia and President BAT Trieste, Greta Pignata – Head of Marketing C ommunication, Bayer Crop Science, Chiara Antonucci – CEO, Abit Agritech Srl, Stefano Mariani – Researcher Research Unit Bioinspired Soft Robotics IIT, Pietro Paganini – Co – founder Competere, Maria Chiara Zaganelli – Center ISMEA Institute of Services for the Agricultural Food Market, Vincenzo Iudicelli – Site – Head Catania, Zoetis and Matteo Lorito – President Agritech Center and Rector University Federico II of Naples.
“With WePlant, BAT Italia ushers in a new era for Italian agriculture in which technological innovation meets environmental sustainability. We are proud to present the first large-scale application of artificial intelligence algorithms in the tobacco sector, a fundamental step forward to optimize resource use and reduce environmental impact. Over the past ten years, we have invested about 300 million euros in Italian agriculture, demonstrating our long-term commitment to this key sector for the country’s economy. These investments have enabled us to support thousands of farmers and contribute to the development of a sector of excellence, and today, with WePlant, we are bringing technological innovation to the service of sustainability, paving the way for a more sustainable future for agriculture. The ambition is to systematize a replicable model on a large scale, which can be used not only for tobacco crops, but also for other crops”-said Andrea Di Paolo, Corporate & Regulatory Affairs Director of BAT Italia and President of BAT Trieste during the panel. Promoted by BAT Italia, in collaboration with exceptional partners such as JustOnEarth, an Italian startup specializing in the development of I.A. algorithms for the analysis of satellite data, the producer organization New Tab, and the agronomic department of Deltafina, a leading company in the tobacco first processing market in Italy, WePlant is the satellite monitoring and artificial intelligence application project, of tobacco crops, which combines two fundamental themes: ecological and digital transition.
But how does it work? From a technical point of view, the land to be covered by the program will be divided into sections from 2m² to 15m². At this point, a web – app installed on farmers’ devices, thanks to a cross-analysis of information from satellite monitoring along with data collected by farmers on a Digital Field Notebook, will allow them to determine exactly how much water and nutrients will be needed at each specific point on the land, allowing them to make more informed decisions without compromising crop quality.
In parallel, satellite data monitoring that allows for detailed information on crop health, water management, and climatic conditions, and AI algorithms, will be able to determine the optimal ways to efficiently consume, predicting significant savings in both water and chemicals.
The adoption of this technology aims to empower farmers , providing tools that integrate i no their experience with the accuracy of data and digital simulations.
“Artificial intelligence is often viewed with distrust, but at JustOnEarth we believe ques ta represents a tremendous opportunity, especially for sectors like agriculture. The project, which we are pursuing thanks to the support of BAT Italia, shows how AI, if used intelligently, can become a valuable tool for farmers, helping them to improve the efficiency and sustainability of their activities. The goal is to integrate AI with the skills of agronomists, providing them with the tools they need to make more informed and accurate decisions. We are particularly proud to be part of such an innovative project, which has the potential to revolutionize the entire agricultural sector”-said Luigi Borgogno General Manager of JustOnEarth.
“With this project, our member farms especially in the Veneto region, Italy’s leading region for production of the highest quality Virginia Bright tobacco in the world, will have the concrete possibility to achieve water optimization, and phytosanitary savings, as well as better tobacco quality. Being able to be able to provide our farmers with state-of-the-art, easy-to-use technological supports to be able to optimize agricultural work is extremely important. A great achievement that thanks to our institutional partner BAT becomes reality”-said Emanuele Torresani, president of the producers’ organization New Tab.
-photo press office Bat Italia-
(ITALPRESS).
Tobacco supply chain, BAT Italy launches WePlant
