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Davide Facchinetti received degree in Agricultural Sciences (technical and economic studies) in 1999 at the University of Milan, with a thesis concerning the “Approval of roll-over protective structures for agricultural tractors." In 2004, he received the PhD title, at the Agricultural Engineering Department of the same university. Since 2010, he is an assistant professor for “Agroforestry Mechanization,” “Energy systems,” and “Mechanization and energy systems” degree courses. He is a member of National Board of Agronomist Doctors from 2001 . Main research fields: agricultural operators’ safety and well-being, spraying machinery, and ROPS for agricultural machinery.
In Italy, about 160 fatal accidents per year have occurred recently in agriculture, most of them involving agricultural machinery. The most frequent cause of fatal events is the tractor overturning. One of the opportunities to monitor the trend of agricultural tractors fatal overturning is a meticulous search for information on the numerous web portals, at national and local level. In fact, in their information purposes are also included the recording, practically in real time, of significant details about each fatal event, such as the place of the accident, the year, the month and the day of the week of occurring, the victim’s age, gender and nationality, etc. This article is describing the results of the monitoring of fatal tractor overturning accidents in the period of 2008–2019 in Italy. In the 12 years of the survey, 1414 fatal accidents were recorded, most of them occurring in the spring and summer months. The region with the highest cumulative number of fatal events was Tuscany (143). The majority (58.8%) of the victims were over 60, while 71.4% of accidents occurred during field work. Most (57.6%) of the tractors involved in the fatal events did not have rollover protective structures (ROPS), while 19.4% were equipped with a two-post foldable front roll-bar, which, however, was in the lowered position at the time of the accident. In most cases, the tractors involved were obsolete and in poor maintenance conditions, and did not comply with general and specific laws on work safety. To improve the situation, the introduction of the tractor training certificate for the drivers and the periodical inspection for tractors, as well as the issuing of significant financial supports to encourage the replacement of the old models with modern more safe models, are the most effective actions to be put into practice.
Davide Facchinetti; Stefano Santoro; Lavinia Galli; Domenico Pessina. Agricultural Tractor Roll-Over Related Fatalities in Italy: Results from a 12 Years Analysis. Sustainability 2021, 13, 4536 .
AMA StyleDavide Facchinetti, Stefano Santoro, Lavinia Galli, Domenico Pessina. Agricultural Tractor Roll-Over Related Fatalities in Italy: Results from a 12 Years Analysis. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (8):4536.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDavide Facchinetti; Stefano Santoro; Lavinia Galli; Domenico Pessina. 2021. "Agricultural Tractor Roll-Over Related Fatalities in Italy: Results from a 12 Years Analysis." Sustainability 13, no. 8: 4536.
Viticulture involves significant levels of machinery traffic, causing heavy soil compaction. In particular, the compaction of the subsoil is increased; a deep tillage could certainly solve the problem, but the risk of damage to the plants’ root system is high. The aim of this study was to investigate the trend of both the top- and the sub-soil compaction in a hillside vineyard located in Tuscany (Italy), investigating different machine-implement combinations, i.e., self-propelled machinery or narrow tractor coupled to implements. The tests were repeated periodically along the entire growing season, approximately every 6–8 weeks (end of May, end of July and first decade of October). A single test included at least 50 sample measurements, recorded randomly along each inter-row investigated. In the surveyed field, the inter-rows were alternatively covered with grass, or tilled in the top layer during the previous wintertime. Two experimental test sets were developed: the first involved the use of two implements (a sprayer and a grape harvester) towed by narrow tractors, while in the second the pesticide distribution and the harvesting were performed with a properly equipped self-propelled tool carrier. All the other farming operations were executed using the same implements in both cases. Balanced use of the self-propelled tool carrier and the traditional tractor-implement combination allows a better distribution of the soil compaction (in particular in the top-soil), thus improving the root-growing efficiency.
Domenico Pessina; Lavinia Galli; Stefano Santoro; Davide Facchinetti. Sustainability of Machinery Traffic in Vineyard. Sustainability 2021, 13, 2475 .
AMA StyleDomenico Pessina, Lavinia Galli, Stefano Santoro, Davide Facchinetti. Sustainability of Machinery Traffic in Vineyard. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (5):2475.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDomenico Pessina; Lavinia Galli; Stefano Santoro; Davide Facchinetti. 2021. "Sustainability of Machinery Traffic in Vineyard." Sustainability 13, no. 5: 2475.
Incorrect pesticide use in plant protection often involve a risk to the health of operators and consumers and can have negative impacts on the environment and the crops. The application of artificial intelligence techniques can help the reduction of the volume sprayed, decreasing these impacts. In Italy, the production of ready-to-eat salad in greenhouses requires usually from 8 to 12 treatments per year. Moreover, inappropriate sprayers are frequently used, being originally designed for open-field operations. To solve this problem, a small vehicle suitable for moving over rough ground (named “rover”), was designed, able to carry out treatments based on a single row pass in the greenhouse, devoted to reduce significantly the sprayed product amount. To ascertain its potential, the prototype has been tested at two growth stages of some salad cultivars, adopting different nozzles and boom settings. Parameters such as boom height, nozzle spacing and inclination, pump pressure and rover traveling speed were studied. To assess the effectiveness of the spraying coverage, for each run several water-sensitive papers were placed throughout the vegetation. Compared to the commonly distributed mixture volume (1000 L/ha), the prototype is able to reduce up to 55% of product sprayed, but still assure an excellent crop coverage.
Davide Facchinetti; Stefano Santoro; Lavinia Galli; Giulio Fontana; Lorenzo Fedeli; Simone Parisi; Luigi Bonacchi; Stefan Šušnjar; Fabio Salvai; Gabriele Coppola; Matteo Matteucci; Domenico Pessina. Reduction of Pesticide Use in Fresh-Cut Salad Production through Artificial Intelligence. Applied Sciences 2021, 11, 1992 .
AMA StyleDavide Facchinetti, Stefano Santoro, Lavinia Galli, Giulio Fontana, Lorenzo Fedeli, Simone Parisi, Luigi Bonacchi, Stefan Šušnjar, Fabio Salvai, Gabriele Coppola, Matteo Matteucci, Domenico Pessina. Reduction of Pesticide Use in Fresh-Cut Salad Production through Artificial Intelligence. Applied Sciences. 2021; 11 (5):1992.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDavide Facchinetti; Stefano Santoro; Lavinia Galli; Giulio Fontana; Lorenzo Fedeli; Simone Parisi; Luigi Bonacchi; Stefan Šušnjar; Fabio Salvai; Gabriele Coppola; Matteo Matteucci; Domenico Pessina. 2021. "Reduction of Pesticide Use in Fresh-Cut Salad Production through Artificial Intelligence." Applied Sciences 11, no. 5: 1992.
The production of wood pellets has grown considerably in the last decades. Besides woody biomass, other feedstocks can be used for pellet production. Among these, miscanthus presents some advantages because, even if specifically cultivated, it requires low inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides and shows high biomass yield (up to 28 tons of dry matter ha−1 in Europe). Even if in the last years some studies evaluated the environmental impact of woody pellet production, there is no information about the environmental performances of miscanthus pellet production. In this study, the environmental impact of miscanthus pellet was evaluated using the Life Cycle Assessment approach with a cradle-to plant gate perspective. Primary data were collected in a small-medium size pelletizing plant located in Northern Italy where miscanthus is cultivated to be directly processed. The results highlight how the miscanthus pellet shows lower environmental impact compared to woody pellet, mainly due to the lower energy consumption during pelletizing. The possibility to pelletize the miscanthus biomass without any drying offsets the environmental impact related to the miscanthus cultivation for all the evaluated impact categories (except for Marine eutrophication). In detail, for global warming potential, 1 ton of miscanthus pellet shows an impact of 121.6 kg CO2 eq. (about 8% lower respect to woody pellet) while for the other evaluated impact categories the impact reduction ranges from 4 to 59%. Harvesting, which unlike the other field operations is carried out every year, is by far the main contributor to the impacts of the cultivation phase while electricity is the main contributor to the pelletizing phase.
Alessandra Fusi; Jacopo Bacenetti; Andrea R. Proto; Doriana E. A. Tedesco; Domenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti. Pellet Production from Miscanthus: Energy and Environmental Assessment. Energies 2020, 14, 73 .
AMA StyleAlessandra Fusi, Jacopo Bacenetti, Andrea R. Proto, Doriana E. A. Tedesco, Domenico Pessina, Davide Facchinetti. Pellet Production from Miscanthus: Energy and Environmental Assessment. Energies. 2020; 14 (1):73.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessandra Fusi; Jacopo Bacenetti; Andrea R. Proto; Doriana E. A. Tedesco; Domenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti. 2020. "Pellet Production from Miscanthus: Energy and Environmental Assessment." Energies 14, no. 1: 73.
In this study, the economic profitability of hazelnut production in central Italy using conventional and organic farming systems was evaluated using the cost–benefit analysis methodology. Viterbo’s province is the leading province in Italy in terms of quantity produced. Three indicators were calculated for both farming systems: net present value, payback time, internal rate of return. The analysis was conducted utilizing primary data collected by means of interviews and surveys with local farmers and organizations of producers. The collected production data refer to the decade 2008–2018; a global area of 100.34 ha and 76.14 ha were considered for conventional and organic cultivation, respectively. Sensitivity analysis was carried out considering different discount rates, price variability, and inflation rates. The net present value is equal to 92,800 €/ha and to 3778 €/ha, the payback time is 10.47 years and 42.94 years, while the internal rate of return is 12.2% and 1.1% for the conventional and organic production systems, respectively. The conventional production system performs significantly more remuneratively, considering that the price premium paid by the market for the organic product and the subsidies granted to organic farmers are not sufficient to balance the lower yield.
Giuseppe Coppola; Michele Costantini; Luigi Orsi; Davide Facchinetti; Francesco Santoro; Domenico Pessina; Jacopo Bacenetti. A Comparative Cost-Benefit Analysis of Conventional and Organic Hazelnuts Production Systems in Center Italy. Agriculture 2020, 10, 409 .
AMA StyleGiuseppe Coppola, Michele Costantini, Luigi Orsi, Davide Facchinetti, Francesco Santoro, Domenico Pessina, Jacopo Bacenetti. A Comparative Cost-Benefit Analysis of Conventional and Organic Hazelnuts Production Systems in Center Italy. Agriculture. 2020; 10 (9):409.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGiuseppe Coppola; Michele Costantini; Luigi Orsi; Davide Facchinetti; Francesco Santoro; Domenico Pessina; Jacopo Bacenetti. 2020. "A Comparative Cost-Benefit Analysis of Conventional and Organic Hazelnuts Production Systems in Center Italy." Agriculture 10, no. 9: 409.
Jacopo Bacenetti; Daniela Lovarelli; Davide Facchinetti; Domenico Pessina. An environmental comparison of techniques to reduce pollutants emissions related to agricultural tractors. Biosystems Engineering 2018, 171, 30 -40.
AMA StyleJacopo Bacenetti, Daniela Lovarelli, Davide Facchinetti, Domenico Pessina. An environmental comparison of techniques to reduce pollutants emissions related to agricultural tractors. Biosystems Engineering. 2018; 171 ():30-40.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJacopo Bacenetti; Daniela Lovarelli; Davide Facchinetti; Domenico Pessina. 2018. "An environmental comparison of techniques to reduce pollutants emissions related to agricultural tractors." Biosystems Engineering 171, no. : 30-40.