A.MA.DI. project: helping the disabled in the farming industry.
To promote the social integration of people with disabilities through farm work, MIPAF funded the A.MA.DI. (Automation of Agricultural Machinery for the Disabled) project, which is geared towards adapting agricultural machinery for use by those with disabilities.
The decree issued by the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport on 17th January 2005 implemented Article 124 of the Italian Highway Code, according to which it is possible for disabled persons in possession of a special licence to drive suitably adapted agricultural machines.
The objective of A.MA.DI. is, then, to promote the development of the necessary technical solutions and the consequent adaptation of farm tractors to meet the requirements of the disabled, who will be permitted to drive them on condition that they possess the relevant special permits.
This ambitious project was entrusted by MIPAF to a pool of organisations that are undoubtedly the most competent in the specific sector of agricultural tools and tractors: CRA-ISMA (the Council for Research and Development in Agriculture and the Institute for Experimental Research into Agricultural Mechanisation), UNACOMA (Italian National Union of Manufacturers of Agricultural Machinery), ENAMA (Italian National Body for Agricultural Mechanisation). These organisations will collaborate fully with FISH (Italian Federation for Overcoming Handicaps), which itself will provide the necessary consultancy services based on the specific experience it has consolidated over a great number of years of assisting the disabled.
The first phase, launched in January 2005, saw the focus being placed on the specific requirements resulting from the study on the accessibility of the tractor driver's cabin and the necessary adjustments to allow it to be used by disabled people, evaluating both the possibility of making changes during manufacturing or via a possible adaptation kit to be marketed to those already in possession of a tractor. The specially created working group then initiated and elaborated a study aimed at identifying technical solutions that are compatible with the requirements prescribed by the special licence.
At the upcoming Eima trade fair in Bologna, three tractor prototypes will be unveiled for the first time. The prototypes have been designed to facilitate access to the driver's cabin by the disabled and were built thanks to the efforts of three of Italy's leading tractor manufacturers and two modification specialists.
The working group of the A.MA.DI. project, with the support of an initiative launched by Edizioni dell’Informatore Agrario, then compiled a questionnaire of the needs and expectations of the disabled agricultural workers. The objective of the questionnaire is to collect information on the possibilities that these 'new' farm machines adapted to the specific requirements identified can offer the disabled.
