Laura Seguso
The Knorr Partnership Fund initiative has kicked off! Unilever will finance farmers who are inspired by the guidelines of Unilever's Sustainable Agriculture Code with 1 million euros a year. This is a tool developed by the multinational company in order to develop sustainable farming practices .
Italian farmers are sensitive to this subject and particularly interested is the CIO, Interregional fruit and vegetable Consortium, an association of more than 700 farmers who annually grow 12 thousand hectares of tomatoes in northern Italy and are suppliers of raw materials for the Knorr brand products . CIO has obtained a free grant from Unilever to promote agriculture systems of precision from its shareholders.
The use of probes, satellites, drones, sensors attached to the machines and GPS technologies help identify the different levels of fertility in the soil and indicate the precise amount of water and nutrients to be distributed in the different growing areas, saving up to 25% for each kilogram of tomato produced.
Angelo Trocchia President and CEO of Unilever Italy says: “The CIO is actually part of the 45 companies worldwide elected by Unilever, through Knorr Landmark Farm, which certifies the excellence of the world's farms that are able to comply with the requirements of environmental, economic and social sustainability, that become suppliers of raw materials. Among these is the tomato, part of the 13 main vegetables and herbs used to prepare the products or the Knorr brand. 90% comes from sustainable agriculture, the goal is to achieve 100% sustainable agricultural supply by 2020”.
