Italy’s Parma region has long been an innovator in arts, culture and science. Home to one of Europe’s oldest universities, Parma was a leading centre of the Italian Renaissance. The city and its surrounding farming communities have contributed much to the evolution of Northern Italy’s legendary cuisine – from Parmesan cheese (known locally as Parmigiano-Reggiano) to Prosciutto Ham.
Parma is also home to the European Food Safety Authority and it is now the centre of a new project supported by Nestlé that is helping the region’s farmers increase their production of vine-ripened tomatoes whilst reducing their water consumption.
Launched in 2008 under the framework of the global food industry’s Sustainable Agriculture Initiative, the new project will help rural farmers adopt and evaluate a new water management technology - Crop Sense Soil Moisture Monitoring – which is currently under study in different areas of the world. The technology uses digital sensory tools to collect precise data on soil moisture at the root level. This tool could ultimately help farmers apply just the right levels of irrigation to their crops using highly efficient drip-technology methods.
The data collection system will help both farmers and agricultural extension experts identify the optimal moisture conditions for tomato growing, as well as the best conditions to maximise crop revenue. Data collection will continue for three years, through 2010, and the project aims to achieve the following results:
- Increase farmer knowledge of soil and water behaviour,
- Decrease water consumption whilst increasing water efficiency,
- Stimulate farmer adoption of water-efficient technologies and
- Maximise farmer revenue and processing efficiency.
Nestlé will support the adoption of the water conservation and soil monitoring technology by 10 farms located in different soil and rainfall zones across the Parma region. The end goal is to help increase food production whilst significantly reducing the amount of water resources consumed by the agricultural enterprises that supply Nestlé and other food and beverage companies with essential products.