The 'Evoluzione Terra' Project Helps Develop of Sustainable and Social Farming in Italy
November 24, 2020 /3BL Media/ - CNH Industrial and its agricultural brand New Holland Agriculture have joined forces with the Italian environmentalist association Legambiente on the ‘Evoluzione Terra’ (Evolution Earth) project, which was presented to the press, institutions and industry associations today. The announcement was made by Angelo Gentili, National Head of Agricultural Projects at Legambiente, Carlo Lambro, New Holland Brand President, and Daniela Ropolo, Head of Sustainable Development Initiatives at CNH Industrial, during the second edition of the national agro-ecology forum, Forum nazionale Agroecologia, organized as a virtual event and streamed live on the Facebook pages of Legambiente, Legambiente Agricoltura and La Nuova Ecologia, and on their websites.
‘Evoluzione Terra’ aims to foster an innovative approach to sustainable and social farming activities in the participating farms. The first collaboration in the project will involve the Libera Terra Mediterraneo, a non-profit consortium founded on the mission of achieving a positive social impact by using land properties confiscated from organized crime to produce high quality products through farming methods that are sustainable for the environment and the communities. This consortium will provide its participating cooperatives with the agricultural equipment needed for practising Agriculture 4.0.
New Holland will supply six auto guidance systems for Precision Farming, which will be installed on tractors at four of the Consortium’s cooperatives based in Sicily: Cooperativa Rita Atria in Castelvetrano, in the province of Trapani, Cooperativa Beppe Montana in Lentini, in the province of Siracusa, Cooperativa Placido Rizzotto and Cooperativa Pio La Torre in San Giuseppe Jato, in the province of Palermo. Cooperatives Rita Atria and Beppe Montana, have also been provided with two state-of-the-art New Holland tractors. In addition, the Brand will support the purchase of advanced equipment, such as an innovative seeder designed for organic farming, with the aim of improving the cooperatives’ productivity and efficiency through the use of state-of-the-art technologies enabling Agriculture 4.0 practices.
Carlo Lambro, New Holland Brand President, stated: “This project is a perfect fit with New Holland’s Clean Energy Leader strategy, which aims at driving the transition to a resource-efficient and sustainable agriculture. It is very clear to us that sustainability is the future. We have pioneered agriculture that respects and protect the environment, continuously pushing the boundaries of technology to enable our customers to produce more with less. This project will enable participating cooperatives to benefit from the best of Agriculture 4.0, helping them to improve their resilience to climate change and their decision making.”
“Our purpose, at CNH Industrial, is ‘Powering Sustainable Transformation’, empowering farmers around the world to play an active role in this,” declared Daniela Ropolo, Head of Sustainable Development Initiatives at CNH Industrial. “This purpose underlies initiatives such as the productive collaboration we have developed with Legambiente and projects such as this, which aim to provide farms with the financial support and tools to advance on the path of sustainable and social farming. The ‘Evoluzione Terra’ project is part of a $2 million global Solidarity Fund initiative CNH Industrial has set up to support the fight against COVID-19 in communities where businesses have been affected by the virus.”
Angelo Gentili, National Head of Agricultural Projects at Legambiente, explained: “At Legambiente we have long been very active in promoting organic farming and agroecology, and supporting the creation of cooperatives and social farms across the Italian territory. We are looking forward to collaborating with our long-term partners, CNH Industrial and New Holland, on this new initiative, starting with the project involving the Libera Terra Mediterraneo consortium. Based in Southern Italy, its cooperatives are among the organic and social farming businesses most active in sustainable agriculture practices. With this project, we have the opportunity to support them on this path, providing new opportunities for growth and research that wouldn’t otherwise be accessible to them.”
Valentina Fiore, General Manager of Libera Terra Mediterraneo Consortium, stated: “Respect for the environment is a cornerstone of our cooperatives’ activities: managing land seized from organized crime – and therefore public property – necessarily implies the preservation of the land, the territory and the communities. To this end, Legambiente has provided significant support to access techniques, equipment and practices for environmental, economic and social sustainability. The collaboration was extended to include New Holland, which through this project has enabled the cooperatives to acquire technologies for agriculture 4.0 and other equipment capable of improving their sustainable performance. Having access to all this represents a great opportunity for Libera Terra on its path to a fair and equitable agriculture.”
