Primary Agroindustry

Promoting the development of digital technologies aimed at improving the sustainability of agricultural production for industrial transformation

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Agroindustria primaria

Promuove lo sviluppo di tecnologie digitali volte a migliorare la sostenibilità delle produzioni agricole per la trasformazione industriale.

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Spoke 6 Primary Agroindustry

Spoke 6 actively fosters the sustainable development of agricultural territories by leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as sensing devices, advanced mapping systems, data collection, and processing methods.

 

The Spoke is coordinated by the University of Pavia and involves collaboration with public research institutions and local entities. Together, they work towards the sustainable development of agricultural territories through the implementation of digital innovation systems.

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News

News
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Three Pavia-Based Companies Take Centre Stage in the Student Challenge Launched by Spoke 6 and the University of Pavia
Three agricultural businesses from the province of Pavia have been selected to take an active role in the project within Spoke 6, which is focused on sustainability and the digitalisation of agricultural and livestock production intended for industrial processing. The participating companies are:   Il Sabbione, run by Alice Zanaboni, based in Robecco Pavese (PV) Azienda Agricola Frigerio Anna Maria, located in Voghera (PV) Azienda Agricola Luca Bonizzoni, based in Casteggio (PV)   The challenges proposed by these companies were presented to students on 14 March during the Advanced Digital Marketing course, part of the Master’s Degree Programme in Digital Communication. This marked the beginning of an innovative educational journey based on the “learning by doing” method. The students, organised into multidisciplinary teams and guided by Professor Elisa Conz, will develop ideas, projects, and innovative solutions in response to the companies' real-world needs.   The initiative has a dual aim: To provide students with the opportunity to work on real business cases, gaining practical and project-based skills in a dynamic and authentic environment. To enable companies to connect with young talent and discover innovative, applicable solutions for their production and communication strategies.   Students will have until June to develop digital marketing plans designed to enhance brand awareness and engagement for the selected businesses. Particular attention will be given to competitiveness on both national and international levels: the marketing strategies must highlight the authenticity and quality of local products, helping to position these brands in a distinctive way within Italian and global markets.

News
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26 Exhibitors at the Spoke 6 Spring Roadshow to Discuss Sustainability and Digitalisation in the Primary Agri-Food Sector
On 4 April, the Spring Roadshow of Spoke 6 took place, promoted by the University of Pavia in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce of Cremona-Mantua-Pavia, dedicated to sustainability and digitalisation in the primary agri-food sector. Over 100 participants and 26 exhibiting companies had the opportunity to showcase and learn about the progress made in the sector, with a wide display of technologies and developed prototypes (proofs of concept), and to take part in open discussions on the latest research developments, industrial PhD results, and in-depth one-to-one meetings.   The event was opened by Rector Francesco Svelto: "Our University is committed to the local ecosystem and the agri-food sector, despite never having had a Faculty of Agriculture or a dedicated departmental area. We are part of a broader ecosystem that includes the University of Turin, the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Forestry Services, the University of Sassari, and the Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change, recognising the agricultural value of the region. We have invested around €4.5 million, including support for businesses in the Oltrepò area. It is the right path to follow."   Also in attendance was Gian Marco Centinaio, Deputy President of the Senate: "The province of Pavia has a strong agricultural vocation: Lomellina with rice, Oltrepò with vineyards, innovations in olive oil and olive trees, and livestock farming for Grana Padano. The University of Pavia, already a leader in healthcare, has accepted the challenge of agriculture. This project is important for the region and for Italy as a whole. In Lomellina, we have the first experimental field for TEAs – techniques that will improve plant genetics in line with European Union goals."   Hermes Giberti, professor at the University of Pavia and project manager of NODES - Spoke 6, highlighted: "Primary agri-food industry is complex. With the VINO and FORMIDABILÆ projects, we aim for innovations to tackle climate change in viticulture and to promote smart, resilient dairy farms. With the NODES Spoke 6 fair, we are presenting 18 research and development projects, 3 innovation services, 2 industrial PhDs, 2 prototypes, and a new start-up. We have allocated nearly €4 million for business tenders and almost €1 million to academic proofs of concept for the creation of new enterprises."   Enrico Ciabatti, Deputy Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce of Cremona-Mantua-Pavia, added: "We have supported the initiative with over €6.5 million through Pavia Sviluppo. €1.65 million was allocated to the Innovation Call, and over €1 million to interest rate subsidy contributions. We are also pursuing two PID initiatives: the Digital Enterprise Point, for business digitalisation, and the Pavia Innovation District, to support SMEs in development and networking."

News
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Clone of Renewable Energy Communities in Agricultural Areas: Interview with NODES PhD Candidate Oriana Benfatto
Oriana Benfatto, a third-year PhD candidate within the NODES program in the PhD course in Electronic, Computer, and Electrical Engineering (Cycle 38), talks to us about her research project, "Sustainable services for agricultural areas: renewable energy communities and micro-grids." The project, supervised by Professor Norma Anglani from the Department of Industrial and Information Engineering at the University of Pavia, is developed within the flagship project FORMIDABILAE. It focuses on integrating renewable energy and energy communities to enhance sustainability in agricultural areas. NB: Renewable energy communities represent an opportunity to make the agricultural sector more sustainable and efficient. In your opinion, what are the main obstacles to their large-scale adoption? OB: Energy communities offer a great opportunity to make agriculture more sustainable, but they also face several challenges. One of the main issues is the stability of the electrical grid: while renewables are essential, they are also variable, requiring storage systems and advanced strategies. Moreover, a lack of awareness among farmers and citizens limits participation, highlighting the need for greater outreach and education. Bureaucratic complexity also slows development, with intricate procedures and uncertainties regarding incentives. Overcoming these challenges requires clearer regulations, targeted incentives, and advanced energy storage and smart management technologies to ensure a sustainable and inclusive transition. *** NB: The FORMIDABILAE project aims to develop innovative solutions to improve energy efficiency in the agri-food sector. What is the specific contribution of your research in this context, and what promising technologies are you working on? OB: Within the FORMIDABILAE project, my research focuses on a case study involving a dairy farm, evaluating electrical loads and converters to make it as self-sufficient as possible and less dependent on the power grid. Specifically, I study the control of grid-forming and grid-following inverters to ensure system stability while optimizing energy flow between renewable sources, battery storage, and critical loads such as milking and milk cooling systems. In parallel, we analyze municipalities served by the same primary substation, assessing the potential for rooftop photovoltaic installations using geospatial analysis techniques and comparing estimated energy production with consumption data from national databases. This allows us to estimate the community's self-sufficiency level and optimize system sizing. The ultimate goal is to develop a replicable model for creating self-sufficient energy communities, promoting the adoption of advanced energy efficiency technologies and renewable energy integration in the agri-food sector. *** NB: Being part of the NODES ecosystem and a flagship project like FORMIDABILAE, has this experience provided you with new perspectives or collaborations that have enriched your research journey? What results have you achieved so far? OB: Being involved in the NODES project has allowed me to collaborate with the AUDE laboratory at the University of Pavia, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue. This experience has enriched my journey, enabling me to analyze energy communities from technical, architectural, and urban planning perspectives. I have visited research centers and agri-food companies, gaining firsthand insight into renewable energy technologies and practical challenges. I developed a simulation model to assess the energy self-sufficiency of a dairy farm and its connected community, combining load analysis with photovoltaic potential evaluation.Additionally, I have deepened my study of grid-forming and grid-following inverter control to enhance local grid stability, proposing scalable solutions for the agri-food sector.

Annoucements
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NODES Panel at TerraEnvision Conference: Call for Abstracts Open
In 2025, the NODES project will once again be featured at the TerraEnvision Conference, taking place at the University of Granada (Spain) from 8 to 11 July 2025. The NODES Session NH1: Innovative solutions for increasing resilience to water-related hazards and soil erosion in agricultural areas is coordinated by Valerio Vivaldi and Valentina Vaglia (Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Pavia) and Chiara Toffanin and Fabio Dell’Acqua (Department of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering, University of Pavia). This session aims to highlight the crucial role of Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) in mitigating hydrogeological risks in agro-ecosystems. The call for papers welcomes interdisciplinary contributions in the fields of agronomy, geology, engineering, and hydrogeology, with a specific focus on remote and proximal sensing for monitoring NbS in agro-ecosystems, as well as numerical and physical simulations, such as machine learning models, to analyse the effects of NbS and climate change. The objective is to provide practical tools for farmers and policymakers, showcasing how NbS can enhance resilience to hydrogeological hazards in agricultural areas. 🔹 Deadline for abstract submission: 15 April 2025 🔹 Call for Abstracts: terraenvision.eu/call-for-abstracts-2025 For further information, please contact Dr Valentina Vaglia: valentina.vaglia@unipv.it

Boost your competence

6. Primary agroindustry
NODES Academy: Primary Agroindustry - 2nd Edition
Course holder
ComoNExT – Elena Zaffaroni, Sara Lucca, Marina Fabre Morales, Elisa Alemagna
Acceleration
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6. Primary agroindustry
NODES Academy: Primary Agroindustry - 1st Edition
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ComoNExT – Elena Zaffaroni, Sara Lucca, Marina Fabre Morales, Elisa Alemagna
Entrepreneurship
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6. Primary agroindustry
Agritech Training: Precision Viticulture
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Prof. Hermes Giberti, University of Pavia
Upskilling
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Eventi

Meeting
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ROADSHOW PRIMAVERA: Spoke 6 technologies fair
On April 4, 2025, the University of Pavia will host the NODES Spoke 6 RoadShow event Sustainability and Digitalization in Primary Agroindustry.   The initiative represents an important opportunity to see first hand the technologies developed and the results obtained so far by the initiatives funded by the Spoke, such as cascade calls for SMEs, academic PoCs, industrial PhDs and flagship projects.   The Spoke technologies fair will open at 11:00 following a short introductory plenary session to the event moderated by the Spoke Project Manager, Prof. Hermes Giberti.   In parallel, a space dedicated to 1-to-1 meetings will allow companies, investors and startups to explore new collaboration opportunities, while the networking lunch will offer an opportunity for informal discussion between participants. An Agorà area will instead be dedicated to short interviews with exhibitors. The various contributions will then be available online at the end of the event.   Agenda 10.00 Registration  10.30 Plenary session with introductory speeches 11.00 Opening of the technoligies fair and Agorà area 11.30 - 14:30 1-to-1 meetings 13.00 - 14.00 Networking lunch 14.30 Closure   Participation is open to companies, investors, startups and stakeholders interested in learning about the opportunities offered by digital and sustainable technologies for the future of agriculture.   Click here to register!  

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Spoke 6 Assembly: Online Meeting on January 27, 2025
Spoke 6 - Primary Agroindustry - holds an online meeting January 27, 2025 to share the state of the Spoke's work and some "Success Stories" featuring researchers and SMEs funded by the Spoke. The assembly will be largely dedicated to some of the success stories of Spoke 6 involving SMEs from the NODES area.   The agenda of the event, which will take place from 11:00 to 13:00, includes: 11:00 Progress of the Spoke work (Hermes Giberti PM Spoke 6) 11:20-12:50 Success Stories - informal chats (maximum 10 minutes each) 11:20 Plant extracts (Az. Agr. Calatroni) 11:30 New supply chains in Oltrepò Pavese (Eco srl) 11:40 Divine & Eva (ProLogic informatica and AlpiRobot) 11:50 The efficient farm (Veronesi-AIA) 12:00 An industrial doctorate (Confagricoltura) 12:10 Students Challenges (Az. Agr. Api dei Monti) 12:20 Upskilling in zootechnics (CAI Nutrizione) 12:30 The Academy of Spoke 6 (ComoNext) 12:40 A new startup (RDkore) 12:50 Next steps, greetings and thanks

Meeting
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Students Challenges NODES Spoke 6 – An opportunity for local SMEs
Spoke 6 invites local SMEs in the primary agro-industry to propose marketing challenges to the students of the Advanced Digital Marketing course at the University of Pavia. The goal is to develop innovative digital marketing plans to enhance the quality and authenticity of local products, improving consumer awareness and engagement both at an Italian and international level. The Students Challenges offer students the opportunity to interact with the corporate world, public bodies, associations and third sector bodies of the NODES project territories through the “learning by doing” method and provide an opportunity for companies to meet young talents and discover innovative solutions applicable within their realities.   Agenda  17:00 Welcome and introduction to the call Students Challenges 2025   Prof Hermes Giberti, PM NODES SPOKE 6 Dr Elisa Conz, course leader “Advanced Digital Marketing”   17:15 Awards ceremony Students Challenges 2024   Challenge proposed by Calatroni Vini Challenge proposed by Api dei Monti Challenge proposed by Rossetti e Scrivani   18:15 networking drinks   Date and address:   Thursday 16 January 2025, 17:00 - Aula Disegno - Università degli Studi di Pavia (Piazza Leonardo Da Vinci, 5)   A unique opportunity to discover how local SMEs can benefit from Spoke 6’s Students Challenges!   Register here!          

Workshop
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ROADSHOW MEZZOGIORNO: Sustainability and Digitalisation in the Agro-Industry
The highly anticipated event "Sustainability and Digitalisation in the Agro-Industry" will take place on 24th October at the Gran Torre Hotel in Oristano, as part of the Roadshow Mezzogiorno initiative. During the day, Alberto S. Atzori from the Department of Agriculture at the University of Sassari will present the flagship project "Formidablae" for digital innovation in the agro-zoothec industry, while Giorgio Todde will discuss the importance of digitalisation for the advancement of the primary sector. Following this, Ing. Lucia Marazzi, Deputy Project Manager of NODES and Head of the Technology Transfer Office at the University of Pavia, will present the cascading calls of the Mezzogiorno Line. The central moment of the event will be a B2B roundtable, moderated by Nadia Bertolino, Communication and Dissemination Manager of Spoke 6, during which innovative projects funded by the cascading calls from Spokes 6 and 7 will be discussed. Companies such as Drop s.r.l. with the DAIRY LIFE PRO project, C.A.O. Formaggi with DIGICAO, Agrigeos s.r.l. with SPIDAP, Primo Principio s.c.a.r.l. with GAINS, Agricolus s.r.l. with CEBUS, and Studio-A Automazione s.r.l. with the MICENE project will present their advancements, highlighting how new technologies and sustainable practices are revolutionising the agro-industrial sector in the Mezzogiorno. This meeting will represent an important opportunity to explore the progress of projects and foster collaboration between businesses, universities, and stakeholders, opening up new opportunities for synergies in the field of agro-industrial innovation and sustainability.