Climate Action 2014-2015

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL
MECHANISATION:
LEADING THE WAY TOWARDS
FOOD SAFETY AND A SMALLER
ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT
By Andrea Maselli, Business Director Agricultural Equipment, New Holland Agriculture
Feeding a planet whose population
is projected to grow by 2.5 billion in
less than 40 years, reaching 9 billion,
is daunting. To do so while preserving
natural resources and dealing with
climate change is the challenge we all
face today, and it is high up in every
government’s, NGO’s and international
organisation’s agenda. The theme for the
Global Expo that will be held in Milan
in 2015 is ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy
for Life’, and is symptomatic of how
preoccupied the world is with this topic.
The Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations (FAO) identifies
access to up-to-date farming technologies
and practices as being crucial in addressing
this challenge, and at New Holland we
are aware of the responsibility we bear, as
a major global player in agriculture. We
believe we have an important role to play
in supporting a sustainable development
of agriculture through increased
productivity within a healthy ecology,
rural economic development, precision
and land management to measure results
and impel innovation and the availability
of diverse technologies compatible with
local contexts and needs.
EXTENDING ACCESS TO
MECHANISATION
To achieve this broad objective, we
are driving our efforts in two main
directions. On the one hand, we are
working on extending mechanisation
as widely as possible around the globe,
targeting local needs and possibilities,
developing specific products to make
mechanisation accessible to the
maximum number of farmers, and
providing them with the means to
increase the productivity of their soil in
respect of healthy ecosystems.
MAXIMISING PRODUCTIVITY
AND EFFICIENCY
Secondly, we are focusing on maximising
the efficiency of cultivated land to ensure
continuous growth and development.
One of the ways we are doing this is by
developing high productivity equipment
such as the recently launched CR10.90
combine harvester, the world’s most
powerful combine with the highest
capacity in the industry. This new machine
has over 15 per cent more productivity
than what was considered a high capacity
combine a decade ago with lower
emission and fuel consumption and less
soil compaction. This major improvement
is the result of our consistently high
investment in research and development,
and has been achieved through advances
in our harvesting and engine technologies.
Maximising efficiency is also about using
technology to boost the productivity
of every square inch of the field. New
Holland’s Precision Land Management
(PLM) systems enable farmers to manage
efficiently their equipment, land, labour
and inputs in all phases of the crop
production cycle.
TECHNOLOGICAL
INNOVATION TO DO MORE
WITH LESS
Technological innovation is crucial
in achieving the dual objective of
increasing productivity and reducing
the environmental impact of agriculture.
This is equally true where mechanisation
is already advanced and in those parts of
the world where it is in its infancy.
It is technological innovation that
enables us to raise productivity and
increase efficiency, so that our fields
yield more crops per acre and require
less labour, fuel and inputs to do so. It
has also led to great advances in operator
comfort, which means longer and more
productive working days – and improved
safety on the farm.
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