Photo 1: The key visual of EIMA International 2026, built around the slogan “Design Agricultural Future”. Source: EIMA 2026 Preliminary Catalogue.
Each November in even-numbered years, Bologna becomes a meeting point for the global agricultural machinery industry. EIMA International, the International Agricultural and Gardening Machinery Exhibition, will open its 47th edition at BolognaFiere from 10 to 14 November 2026. The organisers’ preliminary catalogue shows a show that is still growing and is now positioning itself as more than a trade fair: a platform for shaping where agricultural mechanisation goes next.
The event has been organised since 1969 by FederUnacoma, the Italian Federation of Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers, together with BolognaFiere. It will fill the entire exhibition centre. Around 1,800 exhibitors will present about 60,000 models of machinery and equipment across 14 product sectors. These range from engines and tractors to sprayers, harvesters, irrigation systems, livestock equipment and gardening tools.
Two new showcases, one clear signal
The most important structural change this year is the expansion from five specialised showcases to seven. The five established ones remain:
- Components: parts, spare parts and accessories
- Digital: digital systems, artificial intelligence and robotics
- Energy: technologies for bioenergy supply chains using agricultural and forestry biomass
- Green: machinery for parks, gardens and sports grounds
- Idrotech: technologies for water management
Two new showcases join them. EIMA Campus is built as a meeting point for companies, universities and research centres, with a focus on new technologies and new talent. EIMA Extend is a networking platform where institutions and organisations across the agricultural machinery chain can share needs, ideas and plans for the sector.
These additions show where the industry’s real constraints now lie. Building a stronger tractor or a wider seed drill is no longer the main problem. The harder problems are having enough skilled people to design, operate and service increasingly complex machines, and coordinating the whole value chain, including manufacturers, dealers, contractors, researchers and policymakers. By giving research, training and networking their own space on the show floor, EIMA treats knowledge and collaboration as part of the machinery industry, not as side issues.
Photo 2: A tractor pulling a wide tillage implement across a stubble field, from an exhibitor’s advertisement in the catalogue. Soil-working and sowing equipment is one of the largest sectors at EIMA. Source: EIMA 2026 Preliminary Catalogue.
The digital farm moves from concept to catalogue
The exhibitor list shows how far digital agriculture has moved into the commercial mainstream. Alongside the major tractor and harvester brands (John Deere, CLAAS, Kubota, CNH’s Case IH, New Holland and Steyr, AGCO’s Fendt, Massey Ferguson and Valtra, and the Same Deutz-Fahr and Argo Tractors groups), the preliminary catalogue lists many companies working on robotics, precision guidance and data. Among them are Carbon Robotics, Ecorobotix, Naio, FarmDroid, Vitibot, DJI Agriculture, xFarm Technologies, Topcon and Trimble’s PTx, while robotic mowers from companies such as Mammotion, Ecovacs and Pudu Robotics appear in the gardening sector.
Digital technology will also be present beyond the stands. The Digital Terrace returns with a programme of sessions on digital technologies and applied robotics that runs for the full five days. Taken together, the message is that autonomy, sensing and data are no longer future add-ons. They are becoming standard parts of the machines farmers buy.
Water: the strategic resource
If one theme stands out for farming regions facing climate stress, it is water. The Idrotech showcase presents itself as the global reference exhibition for intelligent water management, which the organisers describe as increasingly strategic for agriculture. The irrigation section of the catalogue is one of the largest and most international on the list. It includes established names such as Netafim, Rivulis, Rain Bird, Toro, Valmont, Lindsay and Hunter, along with many manufacturers from Italy, Spain, Turkey, Israel and India.
Photo 3: Irrigation equipment shown in an exhibitor’s advertisement: a centre-pivot system, a hose-reel irrigator and a mobile pump unit. Source: EIMA 2026 Preliminary Catalogue.
This matters well beyond Europe. Drought, irregular rainfall and, in delta regions, saltwater intrusion are making water efficiency a question of farm survival, not only cost. Drip systems, smart controllers, soil sensors and filtration technology are now as central to farm modernisation as horsepower.
A global marketplace, not just an Italian show
Although EIMA is rooted in Italy’s strong machinery industry, its reach is global. The catalogue lists exhibitors from across Europe as well as India, Turkey, China, South Korea, Japan, the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Indian groups such as TAFE and Shaktiman (Tirth Agro Technology) and many Turkish manufacturers show how emerging industrial economies are competing more and more on the international stage.
Buyers are coming from even further. FederUnacoma, working with the Italian Trade Agency (ITA), is organising official delegations of selected operators from more than 80 countries. More than 500 delegates will be hosted in a dedicated area at the Palazzo dei Congressi, where thousands of B2B meetings with exhibitors are planned. For manufacturers, these structured meetings are often worth more than general visitor numbers, because they turn the fair into a direct route to distributors and institutional buyers.
Photo 4: Guide map of the BolognaFiere exhibition centre, showing the halls, the five entrances and the locations of the EIMA showcases. Source: EIMA 2026 Preliminary Catalogue.
Competitions, demonstrations and debate
EIMA also offers plenty for people who want to see machines in action. Demonstration areas will host Garden E-motion, Tractor of the Year and the Contoterzista Driver Trophy, a competition for agricultural contractors. Exhibitors can compete in the technical innovation contest, with winning entries displayed in the Quadriportico area, and in the EIMA Social Awards for social media communication. New this year is the Exhibit Design Award, organised by ADI, Italy’s Association for Industrial Design, which recognises the best stand concepts, layouts and brand identity.
The conference programme usually includes at least 150 events, including workshops, seminars, corporate meetings, press conferences and conferences. One highlight is the 35th Meeting of the Club of Bologna, the international body that works on strategies for developing agricultural mechanisation. It was founded at EIMA in 1989, and its discussions often influence policy thinking well beyond Italy.
Why it matters
The theme on every page of the preliminary catalogue is “EIMA – Design Agricultural Future”, and the slogan fits. The 2026 edition reflects an industry dealing with three pressures at once: growing more food with less labour, using less water and energy, and meeting stricter environmental expectations. The answers on show are not limited to bigger machines. They also include smarter systems, closer links between industry and research, and stronger networks across the value chain.
For farmers, cooperatives and agribusinesses in developing agricultural economies, including Vietnam and the wider Southeast Asian region, EIMA is a useful place to see which technologies are ready for adoption now. That includes compact tractors, precision spraying, drip irrigation and biomass energy equipment, among others. It is also a chance to start the partnerships with manufacturers, distributors and research institutions that make technology transfer work.
When the halls of BolognaFiere open on 10 November, visitors will see more than 60,000 machines. They will also see the industry’s view of how farming has to change in the decade ahead.
Ngoc Anh