Tyres

B K T A L O N G S I D E I TA L I A N S TA R T- U P S D E D I C AT E D T O A G R I F O O D . F I R S T C O M PA N Y : FA R Z AT I T E C H

Ajourney to unearth sporting talent and business excellence around Italy. We are talking of “Growing Together", the project launched by BKT and DAZN and broadcast on the famous streaming platform. In a series of episodes, it tells the tale of the towns and cities in the Serie BKT, highlighting the talented players of the teams in the second-tier championship together with young and keen local start-uppers working in agriculture and food.

T First stop is in the city of Salerno, whose story is told through the voice and experience of Mirko Angelucci, the Salernitana forward, and Francesco Ruocco, IT specialist at Farzati Tech, the first digital platform aimed at agricultural operators and consumers, which makes it possible to track all produce using blockchain from its origin to the table.

Set up in 2018 and based in Casal Velino, in the province of Salerno (Southern Italy), Farzati Tech is an innovation flagship in Campania thanks also to the valuable collaboration of talented youngsters from the local area.

People such as Francesco Ruocco, aged 22, a promising young talent in the IT sector, who says: “I am lucky to be able to unite my passion for technology with the development of the local area where I live thanks to my work as an IT specialist at Farzati Tech. There I contribute to the realization of technologies to create value along the whole Italian supply chain.”

Farzati Tech develops innovative traceability systems for the agrifood sector, guaranteeing the tightest possible control over quality and the certification of all produce. The start-up’s services, however, are not aimed only at operators, but also at consumers.

Buyers, retailers and end users, thanks to a unique platform developed by the start-up which brings together all the elements which characterize and guarantee the origin of a product with the related validations, can trace back to the individual batch, transparently verifying all the characteristics and values of the products, with validated and verified information.

All this is possible thanks also to the technology of foodpassport® patented by the company - a real passport certifying the life cycle of the product. For all those involved in the sector it is synonymous with assurance, confidence, transparency, security: values which are more than ever shared and promoted also by BKT. Another initiative driven by Farzati Tech is “Io Coltivo Italia” (I Cultivate Italy), a partnership project which makes it possible, once registered on the platform, to rent out a small 50 m2 allotment in one of the greenhouses distributed throughout central-south Italy and in Sicily. Through the app it is possible to follow the cultivation and growth of plants and vegetables which, once they are ready, are delivered to the consumer's home.

“I work in the city where I was born and which I love, Salerno. For me it is a tremendous opportunity to be able to contribute with all the Farzati Tech team to the development and growth of my local territory,” concludes Francesco Ruocco.

Thanks to the “Growing Together” project, BKT is proud to support not only the talented players in Serie BKT, of which the company is Title Sponsor, but also the companies in the local area such as Farzati Tech - which help improve and modernize agriculture, a primary sector for the Indian group and for its Off-Highway tires.

| Tyres C o n t i n e n t a l l a u n c h e s n e w l o a d e r t y r e

Continental has launched a new telehandler and skidsteer loader tyre. The CompactMaster AG tyre is the first to be designed with a new Turtle Shield tread layer and twisted steel belt. “This is a reinforced tyre with a hard shell and a more flexible steel wire construction to help prevent cuts and damage, whilst offering greater stability for materials handling work,” explains Continental agricultural tyre specialist, Richard Hutchins.

“This tyre represents years of research and development by our agricultural research and development team in Lousado, Portugal. The new twisted steel belt construction has a unique Turtle Shield layer beneath the rubber to protect the tyre shoulder area from damage. The wider tread and lug widths have been specifically designed to offer better traction on a variety of surfaces and improve the self-cleaning properties of the tyre,” he adds.

The new tyre is capable of operating at speeds of up to 50 kilometres per hour. “This level of tolerance is an indication of the strength and flexibility of the tyre. The twisted steel belt provides a robust yet flexible tyre that can run at higher pressures on the road to enhance fuel efficiency, and lower pressures in the yard or field when carrying heavy loads,” he says.

Compared to a standard agricultural tyre pattern, the new lug design of the CompactMaster AG tyre provides five percent more surface area. “This lug design further enhances grip and will also contribute to the tyre wearing more evenly, which can improve the hours and mileages the tyre will deliver,” says Mr Hutchins. The tyre also has a land-sea (L/S) ratio of 30 percent which means a larger portion of the tyre stays in contact with the ground. “This ratio is particularly important for traction in wet and slippery conditions, so we anticipate operators will see a marked benefit by choosing these tyres for use on more challenging surfaces,” he adds.

Telehanders and skid-steer loaders also have to make stationary turns on hard surfaces which increases the lateral pressure that is put through the tyre. The twisted steel belt construction of the CompactMaster AG tyre makes it stiffer which provides greater stability. “Lateral turns are common in the tight spaces these vehicles operate in, so we have designed a tyre that is more resilient and robust to soak up the strain the vehicle puts on it,” he says.

Continental CompactMaster AG tyres are available for 24-inch wheels, size 460/70R24 159B.