Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Does Precision Technologies Adoption Contribute to the Economic and Agri-Environmental Sustainability of Mediterranean Wheat Production? An Italian Case Study

Adele Finco
ORCID logo ,
Deborah Bentivoglio
* ,
Matteo Belletti
,
Giulia Chiaraluce
ORCID logo ,
Marco Fiorentini
,
Luigi Ledda
,
Roberto Orsini
ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 2 June 2023 / Approved: 5 June 2023 / Online: 5 June 2023 (08:32:28 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Finco, A.; Bentivoglio, D.; Belletti, M.; Chiaraluce, G.; Fiorentini, M.; Ledda, L.; Orsini, R. Does Precision Technologies Adoption Contribute to the Economic and Agri-Environmental Sustainability of Mediterranean Wheat Production? An Italian Case Study. Agronomy 2023, 13, 1818. Finco, A.; Bentivoglio, D.; Belletti, M.; Chiaraluce, G.; Fiorentini, M.; Ledda, L.; Orsini, R. Does Precision Technologies Adoption Contribute to the Economic and Agri-Environmental Sustainability of Mediterranean Wheat Production? An Italian Case Study. Agronomy 2023, 13, 1818.

Abstract

The European Green Deal has set a concrete strategic plan to increase farm sustainability. At the same time, the current global challenges, due to climate change and fuels and commodity market crisis, combined with the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine, comprise the need for quality food, but also the reduction of negative external effects of agricultural production, with fair remuneration for the farmers. In response, precision agriculture has great potential to contribute to the sustainable development. Precision agriculture is a farming management that provides a holistic system approach to managing the spatial and temporal crop and soil variability within a field to improve the farm’s performance and sustainability. However, farmers are still hesitant to adopt it. On these premises, the study aims to evaluate the impacts of precision agriculture technologies on farm profitability, agronomic and environmental management by farmers adopting (or not) these technologies, using the case study method. In detail, the work focuses on the period 2014-2022 for two farms that cultivate durum wheat in Central Italy. The results suggest that the implementation of precision technologies can guarantee economic and agri-environmental efficiency. Results could serve as a basis for developing a program to start training in farms as well as suggest policy strategies.

Keywords

precision agriculture; durum wheat; Italy; case study; economic impact; agro-environmental impact; sustainability; nitrogen efficiency; profitability

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Agricultural Science and Agronomy

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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