Lik, Mezdra region Bulgaria
Lik, Mezdra region Bulgaria
0.35 ha
greenhouses
Biodynamic farm “Versol”
Biodynamic farm Versol minimizes the losses resulting from human error, saves water, energy and human resources with ONDO
Bulgaria
Miroslav Peshovski
The challenges
Being a farm already fully independent of external energy and water sources, biodynamic farm Versol is looking to ensure the most optimal usage of the available water and energy. The farm keeps expanding and so the energy and water should also cover the needs of the farm even after the planned expansion.
Hence, the farm owners started looking for a reliable and automated way to guarantee the timely irrigation and fertigation of the plants, using just the right amounts of water and nutrients, without employing extra human resource for the management and control of those processes. In the past the over-irrigation or insufficient irrigation of the crop, as a result from human error, had been the reason for the poor quality of part of the crop and impossibility to sell it on the market, as well as for yield that was lower than expected.
The automation the farm was looking for was supposed to also control the climate in the greenhouses. The greenhouse units had to automatically maintain the optimal climate for the plants, avoiding any potential stress for the plants in case of unfavorable change in the external climate.
To avoid any potentially negative effects caused by the radio signal, the farm owners required that the automation be completely cable-based. It also had to be compatible with the power cabinets which the farm had already purchased.
The owners of Versol got in touch with ONDO after being referred by Schneider Bulgaria – one of ONDO partners.
The solutions
- Automation of irrigation, fertigation and climate control with ONDO
- Farming land with ONDO automation – 0.35 ha
In Versol farm ONDO automates the plant irrigation, nutrition and climate control in 13 tunnel greenhouses with total farming land of 0.35 ha.
For irrigation purposes, the farm has 2 rain water collection tanks 18 m3 each, which feed a third, external tank for rain water collection of 240 m3. The water is then passed on to an internal water collection tank with 200 m3 of storage. Thanks to the FertiON 2-channel fertigation system set up by ONDO and the 5 hydrophore pumps, the water from the internal water tank is getting pumped to the greenhouses. The precise irrigation and nutrition of the plants with ONDO guarantees that the water and the bio agents used to nourish the plants are used in the most optimal way, per the needs of the plants in every stage of their growth, with no loss of water or nutrients.
The greenhouses are tunnel type, with upper ventilation. ONDO is completely automating and controlling the management of the vents based on sensors for air temperature and humidity installed in the greenhouses. The greenhouses also have misting installed and it was also joined to the automation of the precise climate control.
The precise management of all climate control processes is accomplished thanks to the integration of a weather station ONDO Weather. The data from the weather station is passed to ONDO 24/7, and is then used to achieve an even more precise management of all climate control processes. The client is also displayed the full history of the changes of the climate parameters in the greenhouses.
Per the requirements of the customer, the ONDO automation has been done fully cable-based and the installation has been adapted to the existing power cabinets.
The results
Versol farm has already completed one full crop cycle with ONDO irrigation, fertigation and climate control. The farm confirms much more optimal irrigation and fertigation processes, with a most efficient usage of the collected rain water. The water savings realized are more than 20%.
The minimization of human error during the irrigation and nourishing of the plants is reducing the losses resulting from harvesting crop with poor quality, which has a positive effect on the financial results of the farm. There is no need for human resources engaged in the management and control of the irrigation and plant nutrition processes, and hence there is also no need for control on such human resources by the farm owner.
The farm irrigation, fertigation and climate control processes use the available energy in the most optimal way, which guarantees that with the expansion of the farm, the existing photovoltaic park will be capable of powering up all installations as needed.
Watch the customer video
We give the floor to the client..
/Excerpts from video materials of AGRO.TV presenting Versol farm. The full original videos in Bulgarian can be watched here and here. Please click cc icon at bottom right of the video if English subtitles are not auto displayed/
About biodynamic farm Versol
Greenhouses for potatoes, tomatoes, pepper, kale, eggplant, cucumbers, spinach, inca berry, alabash and other fruit & vegetables.
13 tunnel greenhouses with total farming land of 0.35 ha
Village of Lik, Mezdra, Bulgaria<
Bulgaria
Miroslav Peshovski
Bulgaria
Miroslav Peshovski
owner of biodynamic farm Versol
Versol farm was founded in 2013 as a family farm with small farming land of less than 1 ha where vegetables are grown mainly for family needs. Gradually the farm started expanding and as of now has more than 14 ha of biologically certified farming land. The farm owners are growing a rich variety of fruit and vegetables – potatoes, tomatoes, pepper, eggplant, spinach, Inca berry, kale, alabash and others – more than 20 different crops.
The farm practices biodynamic farming – they work with specific crops at specific times of the year, which results in the crop having 20-30% higher nutritional content. Since 2017 the farm started working on a project aimed at making it completely independent of external energy and water sources – it built its own sources of electricity and heating (a photovoltaic park), and started relying purely on rain water for the irrigation. The plants are nourished only using biological products – nettle extract, beneficial microorganisms (bacteria) and others.
The farm reached out to ONDO to automate the irrigation, nutrition and climate control processes in 13 newly built greenhouses with a total farming land of 0.35 ha.
