Italy is a leader in innovative agricultural machineries
Italy is the second most competitive country in this sector within the EU
The high ranking of Italian agricultural machineries sector on a European basis is due to two main factors: the cumulative value of industry sales and the significant investments towards the development of more environmental friendly machines.
A study conducted by Symbola, a foundation fostering Italian quality, and Coldiretti, an organization representing entrepreneurs working in the agricultural sector, reports that Germany is the only country within the EU with higher sales volume (10,2 billion euros) and higher value-added component with respect to Italy (2,8 against 1,6 billion euros).
Italy's investments on R&D aim at improving efficiency in chain processes and strive for continuous innovation in the 'green' technology of final products. In just three years, from 2008 to 2011, Italian agricultural sector has managed to reduce by 66% the energy consumption per unit. A similar trend applies to the exploitation of households and industrial waste output.
Italy's outstanding commitment in shifting towards 'green' production systems has reached significant achievements in abating environmental impact. However, despite the growing percentage of companies in the agricultural sector investing in sustainability, the rest of the manufacturing industry and Italian economy as a whole lags behind in the implementation of 'green' policies.
Thanks to the efforts and the growing commitment in innovation of Italian excellences in this sector, Italian industry of agricultural machineries has proved to overcome fierce competition from the developing countries. While the overall European demand for agricultural machineries has fallen by 8 points in the period lagging from 2003 to 2012, Italy has experience only a 3% drop in foreign demand.
These figures not only provide evidence of the dynamicity of Italian mechanization sector with respect to its European counterparts, but it also emphasises the importance of export sectors for Italy's economy.
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