NATURE
NATURE
PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT
The agricultural company Viola has always been sensitive to the issue of sustainable development, even more so in today’s world as farming production is at the centre of a series of environmental policies that are emerging on a global scale. Two such cases are “Agenda 2030”, launched by the General Assembly of The United Nations and the European “Green Deal”. In particular, agriculture plays a fundamental role in the “Green Deal” for its critical role in climate change, food health and safety and in the reduction of the use of chemical substances. Europe has dedicated a strategy defined as ”Farm to Fork”, specifically directed at this primary sector. The aim of this initiative is to achieve a range of ambitious environmental goals, one of which is a substantial reduction in the use of chemicals in agriculture.
In the traditional vocations such as that in which we are involved, these political-economic measures have always played a role. The values of respect for, and the safeguarding of the environment and our area in general, have forever been handed down through the generations, above all when the agricultural business provides work that can sustain the development of the local economy.
We are well aware that this is the land left to us by our fathers and we have a duty to protect and preserve it in the best way we can. The earth provides us with nutrition and offers us essential resources to sustain human life. We live in this area and we are an integral part of it, and as such, we have a duty to maintain the ecosystem as a whole.
To that end, we promote sustainable cultivation techniques, preferring to utilise natural products. Furthermore, the constant research for improvement and the necessity to adapt to market evolution leads us towards the adoption of innovative technological systems which nowadays are an indispensable support in accomplishing our goals for the development of an efficient company.
In the field, we support the use of cutting edge technologies, particularly in reference to “precision farming” and “smart agriculture”. Intervention in the field with precision, and only when necessary, allows, on the one hand to rationalise agricultural management and improve the efficiency of the production process, while on the other hand, it assists in reducing environmental pressure on agronomic practices and in safeguarding the cultivation. This is our contribution to the fight against climate change. We are convinced that each and every one of us can play an active role, fundamental for safeguarding the environment.
Given the intensity and the increase in adverse meteorological events, it has become ever more critical to prevent further natural disasters through the use of these new instruments of support. Decisions can be made based on this new technology and the highly qualified personnel who are specialised in its use.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Our land is in our hearts and for this reason we have initiated a course of action that envisages the adoption of sustainable production models to be applied to the entire production process.
Our concept of the circular economy is linked to sustainable and responsible growth, one in which waste becomes a resource. Economic practices are integrated with the ecological system with the aim of achieving economic sustainability while having a minimum impact on the environment.
As opposed to a linear system which starts with the raw materials and finishes with waste products, we would like to get to the point at which, what we produce today, becomes, in its entirety, a resource for tomorrow. A system in which the raw materials being processed to create a finished product do not create waste, or at least, that the waste can be recycled, thus minimising the creation of waste and reducing the impact on the environment.
We maintain that this procedure is fundamental for the entire oil producing sector but it will obviously require a huge cultural shift that would necessitate a complete review of the philosophy of the business model in order to convince both the production and the commercial sector to adopt a system of recycling and reutilization for environmental wealth that could also produce profits.
Waste products from the production of extra virgin olive oil are currently reutilised in two ways: adding quality to the agricultural process and for clean energy through creating biomass.
We have set our future goal of reconfiguring the entire production cycle of the extraction of the olives in all its phases. Our aim is to arrive at a point of completing the entire circle in a concrete way, by implementing a series of new technologies and innovations to manage the processing of waste in the most efficient way.
SMART AGRICULTURE
With a view to promoting innovation in agriculture, we have adopted a range of the latest technological techniques for phytopathological monitoring in the field. This offers enhanced support to decision making based on agro-meteorological information.
During recent years, we have witnessed frequent extreme meteorological events, a direct result of climate change which is becoming ever more pronounced and which is also contributing to cultivation becoming exposed to new abiotic threats.
The objective in using this technology is to receive information in a digital format: information that is immediately available, precise and georeferenced at a high technical level. It allows us to follow climatic trends and to monitor any phytosanitary adversities that may specifically affect our olive groves in the areas of our direct interest.
