An international jury has named 19 machines as winners of the "Technical Innovations" competition, the headline award of EIMA International, the agricultural machinery exhibition that FederUnacoma will stage at the Bologna Exhibition Centre from Tuesday 10 to Saturday 14 November.

The jury also recognized 35 additional technologies with the "Technical Evolution" designation, awarded for original improvements to products already manufactured or patented. Organizers unveiled the winners at a ceremony this afternoon at Palazzo Re Enzo in Bologna, and all 54 recognized models will sit in a static display in the Quadriportico area throughout the five-day event.

The 2026 edition marks a scheduling change: for the first time, EIMA runs Tuesday through Saturday rather than the traditional midweek-to-weekend format.

The full exhibition will put roughly 60,000 machine models on display, spanning 14 product categories. The winning entries range from AI-based safety systems and digital platforms for remote irrigation management to smart lawnmowers, hybrid power systems, and next-generation agricultural equipment.

"Agricultural machinery has always been a highly innovative sector," FederUnacoma said in announcing the awards. "Technological innovation, however, is a revolution that is sometimes invisible because — as FederUnacoma President Mariaterisa Maschio stated — it often consists of details: unassuming devices that nevertheless guarantee a qualitative leap in farmers' work."

The ceremony, the federation added, "is designed precisely to bring innovation back into the spotlight and to highlight its full value."

Policy and production pressures drive the agenda

FederUnacoma framed the awards against the backdrop of structural pressures on world agriculture. "The agricultural sector faces highly complex challenges linked to the increase in global food demand and the need to preserve natural resources, mitigate the risks of climate change and prevent soil degradation," said General Manager Simona Rapastella.

"The answer to all this lies precisely in the technological potential of the sector and in an event such as EIMA, where innovation is much more than a competitive factor; it is a tool for 'shaping' the future," Rapastella said.

For machinery buyers, the recognized technologies signal where manufacturers are directing R&D spending: automation of irrigation, operator safety, hybridized drivetrains, and precision cutting equipment. Those categories track directly with farm input priorities — labor availability, fuel and energy costs, and water management — that growers across Europe and Africa are budgeting for in the current machinery replacement cycle.

University-industry collaboration

Michele Mattetti, full professor of agricultural mechanics at the University of Bologna and a member of the "Technical Innovations" competition committee, also addressed the ceremony. Mattetti, who serves as Delegate for the Third Mission of the university's Department of Agri-Food Sciences and Technologies, argued for stronger synergies between manufacturers and universities in agricultural research and outlined existing models of company-university collaboration.

His presence underscores the pipeline question facing the sector: keeping a steady flow of applied research from engineering faculties into commercial machinery, at a time when equipment development cycles are shortening around electronics, software and autonomy.

Visitors to the November event will be able to inspect all 19 winning models and the 35 "Technical Evolution" machines in the Quadriportico, offering an early read on which technologies manufacturers expect to move from prototype to serial production in the seasons ahead.