Primo Principio, leader in innovative agronomy.
Primo Principio is an Italian company founded 10 years ago, specialized in industrial research and development of advanced technological solutions. The company excels in software development, data analysis and predictive modelling, with a particular focus on agronomy, plant phytopathology and the simulation of complex biological phenomena.
The company has developed a Decision Support System (DSS) for the agricultural market and WiForAgri, an application platform proposed as Software as a Service (SaaS) for the monitoring, defence and advanced management of crops, which collects data from the field thanks to innovative IoT sensors that communicate on LPWA networks. The company boasts prestigious collaborations with regional agencies for agricultural development in Sardinia, Friuli Venezia-Giulia and Lazio, offering services and consultancy to producer associations, agronomic studies and agricultural companies of different sizes.
Primo Principio‘s presence also extends beyond national borders, in Slovenia and Greece, with participation in innovation projects at regional, national and European level.
The company’s strength lies in its multidisciplinary team, which integrates engineering, software development and data analysis skills with expertise in agronomy, biology and bioinformatics.
The Lenardon farm: traditions of excellence and Technologies 4.0 in Viticulture
Since 1929, the Lenardon family has passionately dedicated itself to the production of extra virgin olive oil and wines from native vines, carrying on a tradition of excellence through generations.
However, the path over the years has not been without obstacles: the company had to overcome several challenges, including a devastating frost that destroyed a large part of the vines and the post-war duty to transport the olives for pressing from Muggia, in the province of Trieste, to Bassano del Grappa, due to the redefinition of territorial borders.
Viticulture, the main activity of the Lenardon company, requires a lot of preparation, dedication and a personalized approach for each of the vine varieties. In this context, the protection of vines from various diseases assumes fundamental importance. To respond to this need and guarantee a high quality production while respecting sustainability, the company has decided to innovate, implementing the technological solutions proposed by Primo Principio.
This cutting-edge system, which integrates IoT sensors and data analysis software, allows precise monitoring of environmental and cultivation conditions, offering precise data on the presence and infectious potential of pathogens such as downy mildew and powdery mildew.
The availability of this information allows the adoption of a predictive approach which allows the Lenardon company to act in a targeted and effective manner with preventive and protective interventions, reducing the use of plant protection products. This allows us to improve the effectiveness of crops, especially if “organic”, and to optimize the management of resources and intervention times, while safeguarding the quality and yield of the crops.
The advantages of the new technological approach 4.0
Limits the number of phytosanitary treatments, intervening only in cases of actual necessity;
Enhances the effectiveness of cultivation methods in "organic agriculture";
Optimizes the use of resources (mainly irrigation water) and intervention processes;
Guarantees the high quality of the final products, sublimating the organoleptic characteristics of the crops.
The benefits derived from using WiForAgri
The implementation of WiForAgri has allowed the Lenardon company to improve production, monitoring crops and optimizing phytosanitary risk management. The use of prediction tools, based on the collection of data from IoT sensors “in the field”, has in fact allowed targeted protection of the vines, reducing the use of chemical treatments and preserving the biodiversity of the surrounding environment.
Thanks to the accurate collection of environmental data such as rain, leaf wetness, humidity and temperature via IoT sensors, together with crop and phenological data, and a specific analysis of the same, the application software is able to calculate risk indices of pathogen attack, supporting the adoption of a predictive approach that allows you to act in a targeted manner at the most appropriate time with the most effective treatment. This reduces the use of plant protection products, limiting their use to only when strictly necessary; the environmental impact of the treatments is therefore reduced, increasing the effectiveness and yield of crops, especially if organic, and the management of water resources is optimised.
The implementation of WiForAgri by Primo Principio marked a significant turning point for the Lenardon company in crop monitoring and phytosanitary risk management. This was possible thanks to self-powered IoT sensors that communicate data via latest generation LPWA wireless communication protocols with low energy consumption (0G Sigfox and LoRaWan), which guarantee a battery life of at least 2 years.
In this case the IoT monitoring solution uses the Sigfox 0G communication network, which offers considerable advantages:
- Long life of the sensor batteries;
- Signal coverage even in remote areas sometimes not covered by cellular technology;
- Safe, reliable and redundant data transmission.
The adoption of 4.0 technologies has demonstrated how innovation can integrate with tradition, allowing agricultural companies to face the challenges of climate change and sustainability. The Lenardon case represents a real example of how the IoT can transform viticulture, keeping intact the passion and quality that have always distinguished large agricultural companies.
Primo Principio and EIT Smart
Primo Principio has chosen EIT Smart as a strategic partner for data transport on the LPWA network (0G Sigfox), recognizing this technology as a fundamental added value for its WiForAgri system. The robustness of the network infrastructure, the territorial coverage combined with specialized technical support have made EIT Smart the right partner to develop innovative IoT solutions in the field of precision agriculture. From the partnership between the two companies a reliable and sustainable technological ecosystem was born, which effectively responds to the needs of excellent agricultural companies, as demonstrated by the success of the Lenardon case.
