The aim of "RICA" includes all the activities related to the management and enhancement of the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), created to satisfy the information needs of the European Union relating to the business operation of agricultural enterprises.
In particular, the socio-economic information of samples of farms, classified on the basis of a common type, those are a source official statistics at national and Community level and, as such, represent an essential support for the definition and management of EU agricultural policies
INEA has always considered the FADN an information tool designed to Community purposes, but also useful to national and regional level.

The interpretation of the information needs of the users, particularly the government, has become an essential element of the coordination and management of RICA's Network

In such perspective, it considers it a priority to put the RICA at the center of research initiatives and support activities conducted by the Institute, and relaunching the cooperation with all institutions involved in the conduct of agricultural statistics.

A few years ago, a plan has been predisposed of action capable of giving the RICA's network characteristics of a "socio-economic information system for Italian agriculture."

In detail, the RICA deals with economic research and cyclical or structural research, territorial and agricultural development services and research on environment and use of natural resources in agriculture.

Potentialities of the entire RICA structure, reside in the component of its data collection system (IT procedures, samples corporate network of detectors), both in the development of methodologies for both detection and analysis of the microeconomic data collected.