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From Pavia the prototype machine that cleans rice without herbicides

Agriculture. The technique used allows a 70% water saving The idea of a young farmer from Mede, awarded with the Coldiretti Oscar

30 September 2024

3' min read

An ancient technique to protectrice seedlings, thanks to a collaboration between India, China, the University of Turin and a company in the Pavia area, can become an innovation and save up to 70% of the water normally used in rice cultivation.

This is the transplanting of rice seedlings, in other words what the mondine used to do throughout the Po Valley, and which thanks to Giuseppe Zafferoni, a farmer from Mede in the province of Pavia (and his collaboration with the University of Turin) can now be carried out by a machine with a precision similar to that of the human hand.

For a long time, transplanting machines were considered unreliable (in some places in the field they did not reach or they cut entire pieces of crop), whereas today by applying precision farming techniques these problems can be avoided.

"It all started from a technique that has been used for many years in India and Japan. - says Zafferoni, who was awarded Coldiretti's Oscar Green - We have brought it to Italy, designing machinery that offers greater working speed. The challenge is to make it compatible with our type of agriculture. My contribution has been to bring new technology with sensors and automatic guidance for both transplanting and weeding'.

This is the special practice of 'clearing' the field of weeds and pests, which means that herbicides are not used. A practice that used to be done manually, but today can be done with machinery.

"We made the machine,' Zafferoni continues, 'with the cooperation of some workshops in the area where I live and by taking advantage of advice from the University of Turin. The project was financed by the Psr project in Lombardy,' he says.

At the moment, the project is still at the prototype level, but the commercial strategy needs to be fine-tuned, which was also affected by the 2022 covid and drought shutdown. This is why the first harvest achieved with this method will be in 2023. 'We slowed down,' he continues, 'because we had difficulties getting Indian and Chinese engineers to Italy. However, we managed to realise a transplanted rice project. The seedlings are put in the nursery for the first fifteen days, then they are transplanted with a mechanical transplanter and put in a field when there is still mud, because if it is dry it cannot get in. This creates a vadvantage over weeds, because the plant is already taller. When there is transplanting, there must be little water. With precision farming techniques, up to 70% water can be saved. With the transplanting technique, I can also avoid the use of herbicides, because I can do the weeding with a weeding machine. I also save fertilisers, because I don't have to use them in pre-sowing.

The savings are ecological, but also economic. Although here we enter the paradox, due to the rice market, whose price is decided upstream.

'We still have difficulties at the commercial level,' says the Pavia farmer, 'because prices are high and there are still no people willing to pay more for a product that is organic. The advantage of this system is that we increase production compared to classic organic, but we can't lower prices yet. Our transplanter differs from self-propelled machines in that it attaches to the tractor and allows for greater precision. So we don't lose any of the harvest".

Regarding prices, the problem is mainly European. 'The Suisse organic label,' he explains, 'allows us to sell in Switzerland, where the rice is still paid more.

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Vola l’export verso l’Arabia Saudita. Il modello lombardo piace a Riad

From Pavia the prototype machine that cleans rice without herbicides

Agriculture. The technique used allows a 70% water saving The idea of a young farmer from Mede, awarded with the Coldiretti Oscar

Brand connect

I prossimi eventi

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