Agriculture and Food Technology
In the second half of the last century agriculture witnessed a dramatic increase in performance worldwide, to such extent that in a 50-year span (between 1950 and 2000) yield per hectare (= 10,000 m2 = 2,47 acre) grew by almost 150% and farming productivity by almost 75%, whereas total factor productivity increased by about 55%.
Such growth was mainly due to the continuous and unceasing technological development that has allowed to transform the breakthroughs in research and scientific knowledge in the field of agriculture (especially as far as biological processes are concerned) into practical knowledge, that is in innovations that can be used in the agricultural production context.
It was the adequate investments in technological research and development that generated those technological innovations and scientific advances which had such a direct impact on productivity.
Technological innovation and the evolution of scientific research have combined with other factors that have promoted their adoption and diffusion.
Among such factors, the training and upgrading of human resources employed in farming are certainly playing a key role – and they will do so more and more in the future.
Among the numerous agricultural production branches and sectors, agroindustrial sector is one of the most important.
In agricultural and food industry modernization has moved from chiefly mechanical and chemical innovation to biological and biotechnological change. Workforce operating in such field is expected to have increasingly wider knowledge and specialized skills.
Moreover, technological solutions available today allow agriculture to open itself to new functions (from agritourism to energy production), that is, to face the typical challenges of sustainability and multifunctionality.
Training and education are essential instruments for ensuring that human resources involved in such processes can keep up with the innovation in progress.
In order to help teachers and instructors improve their training facilities responding to all these issues, PRODIT ENGINEERING is proud to introduce its full range of equipment and training solutions.