Agriculture and digital supply chains to prevent diffusion of counterfeit pesticides

• Technology and traceability are essential to protect both producers and consumers
• The Digital Farmer’s Notebook is not just a requirement, but a vital tool for protecting agricultural production.Its integration with the crop protection product database ensures greater compliance and safety.
• Roberto Mancini, CEO of Diagram Group: ‘Counterfeit agrochemicals not only fail to deliver effective results, but can also leave toxic residues on agricultural products, dangering consumer health and damaging the reputation of Italian-made products.”

Jolanda di Savoia, 13 June 2025 – Counterfeit products are increasingly becoming a significant global threat, insidiously spreading and causing considerable harm to honest farmers. Digital innovation, such as the implementation of digital field notebooks, plays a crucial role in combating this issue. Technology and traceability are key to safeguarding both producers and consumers. Illegal products often lack the declared active ingredients or contain harmful substances, compromising the effectiveness of treatments and endangering plant health, soil fertility, and ultimately food safety. The consequences include crop losses and damage to the reputation of farmers themselves.

“Not only do these products fail to deliver results, but they can also leave toxic residues on agricultural products, putting consumers’ health at risk and damaging the reputation of Italian-made goods,” comments Roberto Mancini, CEO of Diagram Group, Italy’s leading agritech hub and a European leader in providing precision agriculture services, technological solutions, and professional software applications for the agricultural sector. Sources like Europol and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have consistently highlighted the exponential growth of this illegal market, estimating billions in losses for the industry and significant risks to the environment and public health. A 2021 report by the OECD and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) estimated that counterfeit pesticide trade in the EU is worth around €1.3 billion annually, accounting for 13.8% of total legal sales.

The Digital Farmer’s Register is therefore not just a regulatory requirement, but a necessity. “In light of this growing threat, the importance of digitalization has never been clearer. Once a paper register, the notebook is now increasingly digitalized, becoming an essential tool for the traceability of every agricultural operation. It captures crucial information such as phytosanitary treatments, dosages, dates, products used, and climatic conditions,” Mancini adds.

“It is a tool that is not only a regulatory obligation imposed by European and national legislation but is also essential for the efficient management of the farm. It allows for the monitoring of product use, optimization of costs, and, most importantly, ensures transparency and safety for the end consumer.”

The Digital Farmer’s Register thus represents a significant step towards increased digitization and transparency in the sector. Diagram’s electronic treatments register provides seamless access to company records, fields, and crops, with the ability to visualize crop plans graphically and from a top-down view using Google GIS mapping. This system simplifies the management of even the most complex scenarios through real-time checks on the label restrictions of plant protection products, fertilizers, and regulations. Additionally, it offers technical decision support systems for irrigation, protection, fertilization plans, and weather data. This tool is integrated with the plant protection product database, a vital reference for all agri-food operators within Diagram’s ecosystem.

The use of a Digital Farmer Registry enhances communication with regulatory authorities and production chains, ensuring quicker inspections and immediate access to essential information. This is vital not only for preventing fraud but also for managing emergencies and promoting the integrity of Italian products,” concludes Mancini. concludes Mancini.

Diagram
Diagram was born in 2024 from the transformation of the IBF Servizi SpA Group and the acquisitions of Agronica Srl, Abaco SpA, Agriconsulting SpA and Netsens Srl. It is an Italian and European leader in the digitalisation of services dedicated to the agri-food sector, in the development of farm management software and in the management of delivery processes, monitoring and control of environmental and agricultural support programmes. A partner of important governments on the European continent, it supports public administration, agricultural companies, banking and insurance institutions and the agri-food industry with the aim of promoting social, economic and environmental sustainability. Today the company is 41.6% owned by CDP Equity (Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Group), 41.6% by Trilantic Europe and 15% by BF Agricola.