Massimo Brambilla

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Verified

Massimo verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• Ph.D.
• Senior Researcher at Council for Agricultural Research and Agricultural Economy Analysis

Farming operations such as seeding, fertilizing, spraying, weeding, and harvesting can benefit from Precision Agriculture (PA) technologies like Global Navigation Satellite System, auto guidance, and ISOBUS implements. These technologies improve accuracy, reduce energy needs, and allow for better timeliness. While digital machines have shown rapid...

The optimal management of cattle nutrition promotes animal health and welfare, increases livestock farms’ productivity and competitiveness, and enhances environmental sustainability practices. Animal feeding operations play a crucial role as many factors can drive the theoretical ration formulated by nutritionists far from the one the animals inges...

Early diagnosis of subclinical ketosis is fundamental in the production management of dairy cattle. Without evident clinical signs, this pathological condition causes important economic losses for the farmer and significant health repercussions for the cattle that could develop an altered immune function. Laboratory techniques, although accurate, a...

This review describes the potentials of a new omics science in the dairy sector, particularly regarding the improvement of animal health and welfare. The three-dimensional network of water hydrogen bonds is a dynamic entity, subject to the influence of its components and properties of the environment. For this reason, it is sensitive to any chemica...

The European Union promotes the development of a sustainable approach to solid waste management and disposal. Sewage sludge (SWS) is a good example of this economic model because it has fertilizing and soil-conditioning characteristics. This study employed a conventional manure spreader to evaluate the distribution of SWS on agricultural land. Vari...

The early diagnosis of metabolic disorders in intensive farms, such as ketosis, allows a timely health treatment, resulting in improved animal welfare and reduced productivity and economic losses for farmers. This approach represents an opportunity for more sustainable animal production practices. For these reasons, we developed a chemometric proce...

L'interramento delle frazioni scheletriche oltre la profondità di lavorazione può essere una efficace alternativa allo spietramento per rimozione o frantumazione in loco del pietrame, consentendo di costituire un franco di coltivazione di migliore qualità, di adeguata profondità, e stabile a lungo termine.

Citrus is a subtropical fruit tree with high water requirements. This study aimed to determine the effects of water deficit on an orange orchard subjected to different water-saving strategies. The study was realised in an orange orchard in a semiarid area by adopting four different water management techniques: 100% crop evapotranspiration (control)...

Trichoderma spp. are widely reported to regulate plant growth by improving nutrient uptake, photosynthesis, and abiotic stress tolerance. However, their possible application for bedding plants is little explored, especially when comparing different growing media. Considering that coconut coir dust is finding broader application in the ornamental pl...

Simple Summary Livestock farming is experiencing growing levels of automation due to the high number of repetitive tasks requiring little skill and high workloads. Automatic feeding systems for ruminants represent a valuable option for farmers to reduce their daily workload and increase animal welfare and production quality. The farmers’ perspectiv...

The current tools that allow the application of precision agriculture in livestock systems are undergoing growing diffusion. Given the significant share of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the livestock sector, this study investigates the potential contribution of precision agriculture technologies to animal farming sustainabi...

Simulation systems have become essential tools for both researchers and virtual laboratory experiments. In the Agri-food-chain, SimAgri, a driving simulator for tractors and operating machines, has been developed for precision agriculture (PA) research and to train professional farm drivers. Using the virtual environment of the simulator, the influ...

The AUTOFEED project (https://autofeed.crea.gov.it) is a farm management project aiming to point out the advantages and disadvantages of adopting automatic feeding systems (AFS) in cattle breeding. In this context, two surveys were carried out: one to investigate the market offer (in cooperation with manufacturers) and another to record the AFS use...

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is a recognized emerging zoonosis, and sporadic autochthonous cases, unrelated to travel in endemic areas, are rising in industrialized countries. Pigs and wild boars are considered HEV main reservoirs. The ongoing One Health project “Improving understanding of autochthonous Hepatitis E transmission routes: a focus...

Misappreciating the benefits of precision agriculture (PA) is among the main reasons for its present low adoption rate. Concerning crop spraying, the present study focuses on analyzing the economic and ergonomic advantages of adopting precision spraying technology and the approach a farmer must perform for precision spraying tasks.The study starts...

Protected horticulture is a highly energy-consuming sector where optimizing energy use and cost for heating facilities is strategic to achieve high environmental and economic sustainability. The paper main aim is to present the use of a heat pump (HP) for basal heating as an alternative technology to produce bedding plants. The experimental test wa...

Nell'agricoltura di precisione l’eccessiva presenza di scheletro compromette l’operatività delle seminatrici, sia in termini di efficacia del lavoro che di integrità strutturale. Prove di semina sono state effettuate in parcelle a diverso grado di pietrosità con una seminatrice appositamente sensorizzata per verificare la possibilità di monitorarne...

Soil amendments (e.g., compost) require uniform incorporation in the soil profile to benefit plants. However, machines may not mix them uniformly throughout the upper soil layer commonly explored by plant roots. The study focuses on using image texture analysis to determine the level of mixing uniformity in the soil following the passage of two kin...

Lo scopo di questo volume è raccogliere e condividere le considerazioni emerse durante le attività progettuali svolte sui sistemi automatici per la distribuzione dell’unifeed. Pertanto, oltre agli aspetti tecnici e tecnologici relativi alla preparazione della razione e alle soluzioni che il mercato rende attualmente disponibili, sono illustrati anc...

Sowing is critical for successful crop establishment and productivity, particularly in precision agriculture management strategies. However, topsoil characteristics directly affect agribusiness maximization (i.e., crop-yield increase, machinery efficiency, operating-cost reduction) even in the most advanced farming management techniques. The excess...

Presentation held at the EIMA Campus 2022

To minimize the burden on periodical orchard termination and renewal, complete tree removal and processing represent the most effective work technique, when the above- and below-ground tree portions are kept together and removed in one single action. However, the presence of rootstocks imposes specific biomass processing techniques, when turning th...

The optimization of energy input on agricultural farms, such as through improved fuel consumption, is currently under investigation in agricultural mechanization research with the aim of achieving economic and environmental goals. In previous research, we developed a simplified algorithm focused on defining the most efficient tractor–implement comb...

Soil is a very complex medium made of minerals, organic matter, microorganisms, air, and water. Vibrational spectroscopy techniques are exceptionally well-suited to be used with portable and hand-held devices. In this study, NIR spectroscopy was applied using portable instrumentation and the holistic Aquaphotomics approach to identify the differenc...

This paper aimed to study the Aquaphotomics application, as NIR water absorption variations, to monitor and address food dehydration processes for food safety and preservation.A solar drying micro-system with a fan always active at the bottom was used. Two matrices were tested: eggplant and apple slices. The water activity (aw) content was determin...

The agricultural soil is a highly variable and complex active medium for the plant’s life. Due to prolonged formation processes, it must be considered as a non-renewable resource, easily subject to many degradative processes, in most cases due to human activities. These activities lead to the definition of “anthropic” soils, often labelled also as...

Highlights Improvement of tractor traction provides better field efficiency. Drawbar pull increased with tire footprint length. Drawbar pull decreased with increasing tire footprint volume and depth. 3D footprint parameters, which the 2D footprint do not contain, affected the drawbar pull significantly. The ANN highlighted the relation adequately....

Parallel transformation tests on pineapple slices using two micro drying plants (M1 and M2) operating with solar energy were carried out. Method M1 consisted of an active fan at the top, whose ventilation rate depended on the internal temperature. Method M2 had a continuously working fan at the bottom. The dehydration performance of these two micro...

The evaluation of the canopy in orchard cultivation is a key aspect for the main cultivation techniques, such as pruning, thinning, harvesting, production and improved fruit quality. The possibility of having a periodic screening of the state of development of the vegetation can be of practical support to growers. Research on the application of pre...

At the CREA research facility of Treviglio (Bergamo, Italy), to provide farmers with valuable hints for the transition from conventional to precision agriculture, information on crop production dynamics (Maize and Triticale) has been obtained using real-time soil mapping (resistivity technique) and production quality and quantity monitoring with a...

In this work, basil plants were fertilized with 0, 2.5 mM and 10 mM nitrogen (with different NO3−/NH4+ ratios), and then monitored using a low-power technique based on an optical leaf meter and a low-cost RGB sensor interfaced with an Arduino UNO board. The study aimed to investigate possible relationships between the concentration of some plant co...

The success of the use of wastewater in the irrigation depends on a wealth of factors. These include the amount of solids in the wastewater or its filtrate, the ability of the suspended material to form biofilms, the pressure of the water in the system, the type of filters and emitters, and age of the systems. Digestate from crop biomass and manure...

Strengthening of Italian organic durum wheat production system: results of "BIODURUM" project. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the “BioDurum” project addressed different topics with the aim of defining innovative processes for organic farming systems focused on durum wheat. These processes are designed to ensure i) adequate income for organic...

Accurate estimates of canopy cover (CC) are central for a wide range of forestry studies. As direct measurements are impractical, indirect optical methods have often been used to estimate CC from the complement of gap fraction measurements obtained with restricted-view sensors. In this short note we evaluated the influence of the image pixel resolu...

Sturgeon caviar quality relies not only on the perfect dosage of the ingredients but also on the long sturgeon breeding cycle (about 12–15 years) and the exact timing of the egg extraction. For the improvement and the promotion of Italian caviar, the development of an analytical system dedicated to fish products, and caviar, in particular, is funda...

Irrigation with wastewater can strongly contribute to the reduction of water abstraction in agriculture with an especial interest in arid and semiarid areas. However, its use can have drawbacks to both soil and micro-irrigation systems, especially when the total solids in the wastewater are high, such as in digestate liquid fractions (DLF) from pla...

The precise monitoring of the inner microclimate of a greenhouse implies an increase of the production costs following the expensive needed sensor arrays. Currently, there is availability of low-cost sensors and cards for data storage and processing, but their application in real scale facilities is still under study. This research aimed to find a...

The adoption of a new hydraulic fluid or lubricant in a productive process depends on performing tuning tests that require complex systems and often last as long as the normal lifetime of the oil itself. This is an important issue, since there is an intense activity of development of bio-based lubricants, with high biodegradability, intended to rep...

Protected horticulture is a high energy-demanding sector where the optimization of energy use and cost for heating facilities are strategic to achieve high environmental and economic sustainability of productions. The main aim of the work was to evaluate coaxial pipes, used for basal heating, as an alternative system for growing crops with small ca...

Heavy drawbar work on cultivated soil is the most critical aspect for agricultural tractors after the impairment of efficiency resulting from wheel slippage. To investigate this aspect with specific reference to cultivated soils, the data of 100 tractors of varying engine power and weight were processed to obtain a regression equation as the starti...

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging causative agent of acute hepatitis worldwide. To provide insights into the epidemiology of HEV in Italy, a large-scale investigation was conducted into urban sewage over nine years (2011–2019), collecting 1374 sewage samples from 48 wastewater treatment plants located in all the 20 regions of Italy. Broadly re...

Protected horticulture is a high energy-consuming sector in which the optimization of energy use and cost for heating facilities is strategic in achieving high environmental and economic sustainability of production. The main aim of the project was to evaluate the use of a heat pump for basal heating as an alternative technology to grow crops with...

Driving on ice is still a risky activity. Research has investigated the factors contributing to the friction mechanism and has reported experimental studies of pneumatic tyres on ice in order to develop models that predict tractive and braking performance on ice/snow. Therefore, developing testing methods to obtain relevant experimental data for th...

The termination of a fruit orchard generates a considerable amount of residues that can be used as fuel in biomass-fired power plants. Various studies have explored the separate collection of the above-ground tree portion and the rootstock. The present work analyses the potential of complete-tree harvesting (aboveground biomass and rootstock) from...

Aims: The diversity and the geographical distribution of swine papillomaviruses are virtually unknown. The occurrence and the diversity of swine papillomavirus (PV) were therefore investigated in pig slurry collected in Italy, to contribute towards filling this gap in knowledge. Methods and results: Twenty-two slurry samples underwent analysis b...

Farming activities cause operators to experience whole body vibration (WBV), which may result in back injuries. Studies have shown that despite a wide variability when operating a tractor, the accelerations arising from “ground input” have similar spectral trends making it possible to simplify and standardise the driver comfort testing procedures....

Lubrication effectiveness is of paramount importance for the durability of machine components and efficient transmission of power. In addition to reducing the wear and friction of moving parts, lubricants remove potentially damaging heat and impurities and reduce the oxidation and corrosion of components. In agricultural tractors, lubricant oils ar...

Using the pruning residues of woody crops can be beneficial in many ways (e.g., excellent energy balance, a net reduction in pollutant emission and a positive contribution to global warming control). This article describes the background work and development of a new support tool that will allow the user to know the amount and quality of pruning re...

Fruit harvesting trucks are used to easy and speed-up the work of agricultural operators. These vehicles are provided with a moving cargo bed, which can be raised up to 3 meters from the ground so that workers are closer to the plants top. Due to factors like height of centre of gravity and operation on soft and irregular soil, these vehicles prese...

Greenhouse cultivation in Italy represents an important production sector within the horticultural sector, with strong economic importance. Protected crops in the Mediterranean basin cover more than 40,000 hectares (ISMEA2016). Regarding volume, the regions that play a predominant role in Italian greenhouse cultivation are Campania (25.74%), Sicily...

Although the automatic feeding system (AFS) is not the sole method to achieve precision feeding in dairy cows, its adoption allows a novel way to manage the daily feeding distribution that includes impacts on feed intake rhythm, leftover, animal behaviour, labour share and barn design. Moreover, the possible interactions with other automatic system...

Within the framework provided by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture with AGROENER project (http://agroener.crea.gov.it/), a modified equation for the assessment of greenhouse energy demand was developed. As a matter of fact, in Italy, almost 30.000 heated greenhouse production sites undergo variety of climate conditions. With particular reference...

The dynamic behaviour of greenhouse microclimate is a combination of physical processes involving energy transfer (solar radiation and heat transfer) and mass balance (water vapour and CO2 fluxes) at varying of outside environmental conditions. In Italy, 52.3% of greenhouse production sites are placed in the North and in the Centre of the Country a...

In Europe, there is a large surface of land cultivated with fruit trees (i.e. vineyards, olive and fruit orchards) providing valuable amounts of woody biomass from pruning and plant removal at the end of the plantation cycle. Such biomass is generally burnt in open air or shred on topsoil. In few cases, this material is used as fuel for biomass pow...

The primary purpose of agricultural tractors is to perform drawbar work that is mathematically defined by the pull force and forward speed of the machine. An ideal tractor converts all the fuel energy into useful work at the drawbar. This implies the maximization of both engine fuel and drive train mechanical efficiencies allowing the optimization...

The selection process has caused modern durum wheat cultivars to achieve higher yields with different protein quality but also to have low micronutrient amounts. In order to evaluate the suitability of germplasm for the recovery of such nutrient content, macro- and microelements concentrations in twelve ancient Sicilian durum wheat landraces and in...

Promoting energy efficiency in agriculture means supporting economic growth by reducing both pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while minimizing waste and the inefficient use of natural resources. Biomethane presents an interesting option given its possibility to be produced from livestock waste or other organic residues, with GHG emissio...

The phytotoxicity of four different composts obtained from pig slurry solid fraction composted by itself (SSFC) and mixed with sawdust (SC), woodchips (WCC) and wheat straw (WSC) was tested with bioassay methods. For each compost type, the effect of water extracts of compost on seed germination and primary root growth of cress (Lepidium Sativum L.)...

Self-propelled fruit harvesters (SPFHs) are agricultural machines designed to facilitate fruit picking and other tasks requiring operators to stay close to the foliage or to the upper part of the canopy. They generally consist of a chassis with a variable height working platform that can be equipped with lateral extending platforms. The positioning...

Operator exposure to high levels of whole-body vibration (WBV) presents risks to health and safety and it is reported to worsen or even cause back injuries. Work activities resulting in operator exposure to whole-body vibration have a common onset in off-road work such as farming. Despite the wide variability of agricultural surface profiles, studi...

Whole body vibrations are among the risk factors for professional diseases in agricultural operators: it is therefore fundamental to study vibration source dynamics to improve vehicle comfort and safety. This study analyses the forces acting on the tires of one tractor operated in 29 different settings both on a standard “ISO 5008” test track and t...

Olive is one of the oldest cultivated fruit in Mediterranean basin countries. Currently, full mechanic harvesting is getting more and more spread in super high density orchards for oil production, nevertheless in small sized farms (as well as in those producing table olives) hand harvesting by means of olive beaters is still the most used method. W...

Morphometry is a method for describing and analysing statistically the shape variations within and among samples of organisms as a result of growth, experimental treatments or evolution. Morphometric methods are needed whenever there is the necessity to describe and compare shapes of organisms or of particular structures of living beings as a macro...

Introducing a composting treatment of raw digestate could provide an interesting opportunity to facilitate the handling due to the volume reducing of by-products to dispose. In order to achieve the right conditions for the composting process, absorbing solid substrates are required. This work presents the preliminary results related to the technica...

One specific combined machine, aimed at increasing the energetic exploitation of the herbaceous biomass from grass-planted vineyards, orchards and river banks, has been designed and manufactured by BERTI Macchine Agricole (Caldiero, Verona, Italy). Compared to the technical solutions already available in the market, it allows to cut, pre-process an...

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emergent causative agent of acute hepatitis, transmitted by fecal–oral route. Infection with HEV is a global cause for morbidity and mortality throughout the world: it mainly causes large outbreaks in endemic areas and sporadic autochthonous cases in industrialized countries where HEV infections seem to be an emergent...

Lubrication plays a crucial role in a tractor engines’ efficiency and durability. Without suitable lubrication, excessive friction will significantly reduce an engine’s power, and high-intensity wear will damage the moving parts in a short period of time. A set of 178 agricultural tractor models from 20 different international manufacturers located...

Effluent management has become increasingly important among livestock farming activities, particularly relating to the environmental impacts that could result from inadequate effluent management especially at the farm level. Due to this issue, the European Commission, with Directive 91/676/EC, aimed at protecting the environment while ensuring that...

This paper summarizes research carried out on fruits by the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC) in Piacenza, Italy. Among the fruit crops studied, strawberry, blackberry, grapevine, apple, pear, and olive, research on strawberry and blackberry was funded by the Food Standard Agency (UK). Fruit plants were grown in pots, kept under tunnels o...

This paper summarizes research carried out on fruits by the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC) in Piacenza, Italy. Among the fruit crops studied, strawberry, blackberry, grapevine, apple, pear, and olive, research on strawberry and blackberry was funded by the Food Standard Agency (UK). Fruit plants were grown in pots, kept under tunnels o...

Used as alternative energy sources, solid biofuels have the advantage of simultaneously reduce fossil fuel dependence and mitigate climate changes by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Biomass storage and handling play a key role for wood fuel quality assessment: in particular, the presence of covering systems influences biomass drying process and...

In the last several decades, livestock effluent management practices and field slurry spreading operations have received increasing attention due to their economic and environmental implications. In this study, a variable-rate control system for pressurized slurry tankers was developed according a retrofit approach (i.e., as a self-standing module...

To meet farmers’ growing need to have appropriate tools to comply with environmental protection as well as with law requirements focused on livestock nitrogen management, a retrofit variable rate control system for slurry tankers (adaptable to both new and used equipment) was developed. Distribution trials, conducted at two typical forward speeds (...

To meet farmers' growing need to have appropriate tools to comply with environmental protection as well as with law requirements focused on livestock nitrogen management, a retrofit variable rate control system for slurry tankers (adaptable to both new and used equipment) was developed. Distribution trials, conducted at two typical forward speeds (...

Animal slurry management has always been associated with a number of impacts on resources’ use and the environment: such impacts are greatest when large amounts of nutrient-rich slurry from livestock production cannot be adequately utilized on adjacent land. Besides anaerobic digestion in continuously stirred tank reactors, animal slurry liquid fra...

INTRODUCTION In Europe, because of the high production levels of livestock farming in general and pig farming in particular, animal waste management has become increasingly important to comply with the required lowering of livestock farming environmental pressure. Usually manures undergo solid/liquid separation, which generates one clarified liquid...

Research in anaerobic digestion of agricultural by-products has been introducing new and changing heavier fibrous energy-rich feedstocks that, when co-digested with manure, allow the enhancement of the biogas potential per m3 of volatile solids but also induce significant changes in ingestate rheological properties (in comparison with raw manure)....