The final results of the European Agri-Digital Growth project were presented at the major exhibition of agricultural and gardening machinery. Funded under the Interreg Central Europe programme, the project had a budget of €2.33 million, including more than €700,000 allocated to Italy, with CREA’s Research Centre for Viticulture and Enology acting as lead partner.
Concluded on 11 November, three years after its launch, the project involved seven European countries—Austria, Czechia, Croatia, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovenia—and nine regions. Austria and Italy each developed two plans, with Veneto and Emilia-Romagna representing Italy.
Taking an integrated, interconnected approach across the participating European regions, Agri-Digital Growth aimed to advance the digital development of farms and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), while training precision farming specialists. Its starting point was a striking gap: only 21% of agricultural SMEs employ an information and communication technology (ICT) specialist, compared with 77% of large businesses.
Through cooperation between associations, private businesses, public institutions and research organisations, Agri-Digital Growth worked on five technologies in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, four in decision support systems (DSS), four in the Internet of Things (IoT), nine in precision agriculture and crop management, and six in agricultural machinery safety.
However, it is the training component and the development of skilled specialists that project representatives find particularly rewarding. “The Agri-Digital Growth training programme involved 180 businesses and five Living Labs, and trained more than 100 precision farming specialists, supported by thirteen technical publications,” said Luca Masiero of CREA’s Research Centre for Viticulture and Enology, the project’s national coordinator. “The strong commitment of businesses in the sector and of FederUnacoma, a project partner, enabled a wealth of knowledge to be transferred into day-to-day business operations.”
The project sought both to bridge the gap in digital technology adoption between different parts of Europe and to strengthen cross-disciplinary skills. It also aimed to improve communication along the value chain between the engineers who design agricultural machinery and the agronomists and field advisers who use the data generated by that machinery.
The results confirm the strategic role of European cooperation and training in supporting agriculture’s digital transition, strengthening business competitiveness and promoting an increasingly innovative, efficient and sustainable sector.
The precision farming courses will remain available for five years after the project’s conclusion. They are open to everyone, free of charge and accessible through the Agri-Digital Growth platform.
