Electrification and robots, Italy in the world's top five

Italy is one of the most advanced countries in the world for the automation of agricultural machinery, after the USA, Holland, France and Germany. It has produced four advanced agricultural robots out of the hundred currently on the international scene. Most of them, still at the prototype stage, are powered by electricity. At the 44th edition of EIMA, the international exhibition of agricultural machinery, the spotlight will be on electrification and robotization. The numbers are still too small to speak of the existence of new demand. But they are still large enough to place Italy among the top five countries in the world for innovation in this field. Today there are about a hundred agricultural robots on the international scene, many of which are still in the prototype phase. Of these, twenty-four have been produced by large US groups, sixteen by Dutch companies, twelve by French companies and seven by German companies in the sector. With four examples of the latest generation of robots, Italian companies, on a par with English, Danish and Spanish companies, have taken fifth place in the global classification of automation. Of the robots produced to date, 44% are destined for herbaceous crops, 35% for trees and 21% for horticultural crops. The vast majority are powered by electric motors (78%) or diesel (14%). Only 8% are hybrids. Lastly, just 3% are autonomous tractors, while over 30% are used for mechanical weeding or harvesting.