Precision viticulture, the “VI.P” project gets underway in the Cuneo area

Optimize productivity, reduce environmental impact and minimize resources used. These are the goals of “VI.P” projectinaugurated inMirko Arione farm in Castiglione Tinella (CN), between the Unesco heritage wine territories of Langhe and Monferrato. The initiative focuses mainly on water stress and vineyard diseases, with the aim of establishing accurate monitoring of the vineyard through the use of drones and remote sensing and spectral analysis systems.

The project – coordinated and developed by Aegean New Energya company of the Egea Group specialized in the creation and management of energy production plants from renewable sources – aims to explore, develop and test a phytosanitary diagnosis and monitoring system, as well as the prescription and implementation of control interventions to be applied to viticulture, according to the principles ofprecision agriculture.

“Our company has played a technical coordination role and will soon build a photovoltaic system with storage for the use of drones and electric agricultural vehicles. – commented Massimo Cellino, CEO of Egea New Energy – Certainly useful know-how in order to facilitate the development of innovative techniques in agriculture, in full respect of the environment”.

“The peculiarity of the project, one of a kind – he declares Edoardo Bava, project operational manager for Egea New Energy – is that of having been promoted in partnership by a pool of companies and associations: Confagricoltura Cuneo, Merlo Spa, Merlo Project, Altec, Egea New Energy Spa, Agroinnova, AgriNewTech Srl, IDS as well as of course the Mirko Arione company. A team and an innovative project that has given rise to a strong synergy and that will certainly find adequate developments in the future at other wineries, many of which are already present in the first phase of experimentation”.

For Egea, which is based in Alba, the contribution to the “VI.P” project falls within the philosophy of the group, committed – as “territorial multiservices” and through the many companies – in the development of dialogue and joint solutions between companies, institutions and communities.

Parallel to the path related to the theme of environmental transition, the Piedmontese group is discussing the corporate rebalancing and further enhancement of the vocation for the development of services in the area with possible strategic partners. The recent entry of the engineer fits into this context Paolo Pietrogrande on the Management Board of the Egea Group – which has been assigned the positions of managing director and chief restructuring officer – and the strengthening of the powers for the Professor Giovanni Valottipersonally involved in relations with potential partners and their respective advisors.