Summits

Agrievolution Summits impart keen insights into regional host markets, bring focus to global industry issues and serve to build relationships. Leaders from across the industry and around the globe, including equipment manufacturer and dealer executives, government officials, industry association leaders, academia, progressive farmers and other stakeholders come together to share information and make connections. Messaging conveys the vital role of mechanization and precision agriculture for strong economies and to feed the world – and the need for supportive governmental programs.

Summits are hosted by Alliance member organizations, typically in conjunction with value-added global agriculture industry events, and feature expert industry speakers from around the globe. Summits are typically held every 18-24 months, but have been delayed due to COVID and other recent world events. Stay tuned for upcoming plans.

Photos from the 2019 Summit

Recap: Agrievolution Seventh World Summit on Agriculture

Global consumption trends and the growth of specialized crops was the focus of the October 2019 Summit hosted by the Spanish National Association for Agricultural, Forestry and Landscaping Machinery (ANSEMAT) at the Ministry of Agriculture in Madrid.

A profound change is taking place at the global level in food styles and consumption habits. This change is causing new trends in agricultural production, with a robust growth in high value-added crops—specialized crops—compared to arable crops. This change is also reflected in the agricultural machinery industries which see consistent growth in demand for technologies dedicated to “new” crops.

For the agricultural mechanization sector, this growth represents an important challenge, which is played out not only on the level of productivity, but also on that of sustainability. The containment of greenhouse gases, lack of water resources, the impact of chemical products on the environment and of the processing on the quality of the soils are salient issues which manufacturers must consider. These issues can be effectively addressed with the design and implementation of innovative machines. Indeed, the specialized crop sector highlights a gap in terms of technology in many of the production areas.

As pointed out by Carlo Lambro, Brand President, New Holland, with regard to fruit crops, only Europe presents a fleet adequate to the needs of these productions. Asia Pacific Countries, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, which also account for 86% of the cultivated area, are characterized by low levels of mechanization. “Mechanization plays a key role for specialized crops,” said Lambro, “and mechanical means must know how to adapt to the specific needs of this type of cultivation.”

“Along with agricultural diversification,” said Rainer Morgenstern, Executive Director for Sales and Marketing of Same Deutz-Fahr, “specialized crops can be one of the answers to the challenges of food self-sufficiency and climate change. However, specialized crops have special needs that require the use of special tractors with features capable of responding to those needs.”

Mark von Pentz, President, Worldwide Agriculture & Turf Division, Deere & Compnay, focused on the implications of innovation on the broader agricultural machinery market. “If agriculture 4.0 is already a reality, if the ‘electrification’ of mechanical means will be more and more so in the years to come,” von Pentz said, “the next step of technological innovation is linked to the transition from automation to autonomy, that is, to the use on a large scale of artificial intelligence.”

A total of 18 industry expert speakers addressed 120 delegates from 15 countries on these topics and more. The second day of the Summit included specialty crop equipment demos at Demoagro in Valencia along with an exclusive local wine-tasting on site and a locally grown lunch served in the midst of a citrus farm.

2019 Summit Presentations:

Past Summits

Click on each previous summit below to download the program.

2019 – Madrid & Valencia, Spain
2017 – Wu Han, China
2016 – Istanbul, Turkey
2013 – New Delhi, India
2011 – Paris, France
2010 – Orlando, USA
2008 – Rome, Italy