Il ruolo delle tecnologie 4.0 nel supporto alle decisioni strategiche. Un’analisi empirica nel settore dell’agricoltura di precisione

The sustainable and efficient management of agricultural activities currently plays a key role in meeting the environmental objectives set by the European Union. Digital technologies that simplify our everyday lives and are changing all sectors of the economy, from mobility to industry, promise to improve agriculture concerning its effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability. Today, there are numerous innovative solutions of agriculture 4.0, digital and connected, which allow farmers to optimize production processes. This article analyses the convenience of using decision support systems (DSS) dedicated to olive growing, and useful for monitoring the operations to be performed in the field. Thanks to precision agriculture, it is possible to optimize field interventions such as phytosanitary treatments, fertilization and irrigation. There are numerous types of agriculture 4.0 solutions and many of these are aimed to achieve the same results. Existing studies available on this topic have allowed the authors to evaluate the convenience in the use of two different types of DSS systems: the first one involves the use of climatic data and their analysis through algorithms that allow to predict the development of pathogens and the level of infection; the second one is based on the processing of satellite images, useful for monitoring the vegetative and water conditions of the fields. Through these solutions it is possible, in fact, to reduce the intake of fertilizers such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, as well as to obtain a reduction in irrigation and phytosanitary treatments. The main contribution of this study is to identify, through the results of a cost-benefit analysis, the reduction of costs related to the aforementioned interventions. The analyses are based on data collected on a sample of companies operating in the olive sector and concerning the potential of precision agriculture in improving operational efficiency, environmental sustainability and business profitability by making a comparison between traditional agriculture and precision.