Context

The Emilia-Romagna region has large areas exposed to the risk of nitrate pollution (ZVN), presents several water bodies in a bad state and is affected, perhaps more than other regions of Italy, by the phenomenon of climate change, with decreases in yields. and qualitative deterioration of agricultural products. To overcome these problems, the Emilia-Romagna region has long been endowed with an action program for nitrate vulnerable areas, to rationalize the use of nitrogen in agriculture in the areas concerned and, recently, has approved the Strategy for mitigation and adaptation for climate change, identifying, among the possible actions to be implemented for more resilient agriculture, the use of decision support systems. All these conditions are a challenge for agricultural companies called upon to implement a series of techniques and strategies aimed at maximizing company profitability.
To pursue these objectives, among the possible solutions that could be adopted, there is certainly that of fertigation and in particular the development of a decision support system that, if applied on a large scale, would allow to obtain significant benefits for the environment, thanks to a more rational use of fertilizers, especially nitrogenous ones. Moreover, it would allow to minimize the negative effects of climate change by reducing nutritional stress, thanks to a timely and balanced supply of nutrients to crops, intervening with fertilizers even when the ground is not feasible with mechanical means, splitting the distribution of fertilizers to reduce the risks of percolation in depth of the same, avoiding the pollution of underground water bodies; all for the benefit of the production, the quality and the healthiness of the products.