2025 marks a return to growth for tractor sales, which have risen by around 22 percentage points compared with the previous twelve months. Regional demand for agricultural machinery is being driven by technologies for high-value-added crops. The EIMA International agricultural machinery exhibition is a platform of particular interest to operators in Puglia. More than 10,000 visitors are expected from the region.
Tractor sales are back in the black on the national market, and particularly in Puglia, one of the most dynamic regions in the Italian agricultural machinery market. Data on the performance of the sector in 2025 – compiled by FederUnacoma based on data from the Ministry of Transport – show an incresese of 21.6% for the region, amounting to 1,820 newly registered vehicles (compared to around 1,500 in 2024), with a growth rate exceeding the Italian average by several percentage points. Regional sales were driven in particular by vineyard and orchard tractors, which accounted for more than half of local demand for machinery (913 on 1,821).
This the scenario described by Simona Rapastella, General Manager of FederUnacoma – the Italian association representing agricultural machinery manufacturers – during the press conference presenting EIMA International 2026. The weight that vineyard and orchard machinery carries in regional demand for mechanical equipment – as noted at the press conference held today held today in Bari as part of the Enoliexpo exhibition – reflects the primary sector’s growing specialisation in high value-added crops. Puglia ranks first in Italy for olive-growing area (346,000 hectares) and horticultural area (80,000 hectares), second for vineyard area (96,000 hectares), and third for the area devoted to citrus cultivation (9,600 hectares). But Puglia – as the General Manager of FederUnacoma pointed out at the press conference – is also one of the country’s leading producers of durum wheat, with more than 340,000 hectares under cultivation and an annual production that exceeded 680,000 tonnes in 2025.
The specific characteristics of the regional agricultural economy tend therefore to encourage demand for specialised equipment for high value-added crops and for machines typically used in the arable farming scetor. In this context, EIMA International – the global agricultural machinery exhibition organised by FederUnacoma, which will take place at the Bologna Exhibition Centre from 10 to 14 November – represents a platform of undoubted interest for Puglia-based operators, with over 60,000 models on display and a range covering 14 product sectors, from soil preparation technologies to irrigation systems, from tractors to components and gardening equipment.
The 47th edition of the Bologna-based exhibition already boasts the credentials of a major event. “Applications from manufacturers have been coming in at a very steady pace since registration opened last November, virtually filling the exhibition spaces at the fairground in less than two months,” said Simona Rapastella at the press conference. “The surge in applications, which continue to arrive even now,” added the director of FederUnacoma, “has prompted our events department to bring forward the layout planning phase with a meticulous allocation of exhibition spaces.” According to the organisers’ forecasts, the upcoming EIMA is expected not only to match and likely exceed the 1,750 exhibitors (675 of whom from abroad) from the previous edition, but also to match the figure of 350,000 visitors recorded in 2024.
From 10 to 14 November, therefore, a large crowd of visitors is expected at the Bologna exhibition centre, comprising Italian and international buyers, agricultural entrepreneurs, technicians, researchers, agronomists, academics, students and many enthusiasts who devote their spare time to farming and gardening. To its vast audience of visitors, the Bologna exhibition offers a range of new features, starting with an expansion of its themed aereas. EIMA 2026 marks the debut of two new Showcases, EIMA Campus and EIMA Extend, dedicated respectively to the worlds of research and training and to that of institutions within the agricultural machinery sector.
The new Showcases join the five traditional ones: EIMA Components dedicated to components, EIMA Digital to digital technologies and robotics, EIMA Energy to energy from agroforestry sources, EIMA Idrotech to irrigation, and EIMA Green to gardening. EIMA 2026 also displays a new layout of the venue areas, featuring the inauguration of Hall 35 – currently under construction by BolognaFiere – and a new organisation of the outdoor spaces. Particularly interesting to visitors is the exhibition of the winning models from the Technical Innovations and Technical Developments Competition, set up as usual in the Quadriportico area, where the most advanced solutions and concepts proposed by exhibiting companies are presented. Long-standing key theme of the Bologna event, technological innovation will play a leading role in the packed programme of conferences and seminars (around 150 events planned), dedicated not only to technical but also to political issues, and to the scenarios influencing the development of agriculture and mechanisation.
Among these, the themes related to internationalisation will be of great importance. Official ICE delegations are expected in Bologna; this year they will reach record numbers with 90 countries represented, and will be engaged in business-to-business meetings with Italian exhibiting companies. “In a global scenario characterized by ongoing geopolitical tensions and a tightening of tariff barriers, the partnership with ICE becomes even more strategic,” concluded the General Manager of FederUnacoma, “for the launch of technical and commercial collaborations in new markets, with particular reference to the Mercosur, Asian and European
