ONDO automates the processes in the biggest farm for organic raspberries in Bulgaria
We are happy to share news on the latest farm where ONDO automated the processes of irrigation and precise fertigation – the biggest organic raspberry farm in Bulgaria – farm ‘Stoychev’ in Samokov, Bulgaria.
The automation in this organic berry farm was initiated and completed within the project AgroDigiRise of the Digital Innovation Hub AgroHub.bg. Within AgroDigiRise, ONDO is automating the irrigation and precise fertigation processes in 15 farms across Bulgaria, with the ultimate goal to demonstrate, in a real-world environment, the benefits farmers can get via the integration of precision farming automation technologies like ONDO.
Farm Stoychev is the biggest organic raspberry farm in Bulgaria and one of the biggest raspberry farms in the country. On 50 ha of farming land they have been growing raspberries, but also strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. The terrain is mountainous which allows them to pick the fruit later in the year when the crop season for other berry producers in the country is mostly over.
The farm is growing the berries using organic methods. For them maintaining the optimal EC and pH of the plants is very important and thus, they were looking for ways to optimise their processes and cater for the needs of the plants while optimizing the consumption of water and expensive organic nutrients. They were looking to also use remote control and monitoring of the processes considering the huge size of the farm and the need for human resource optimization.
The automation of the irrigation and precise fertigation processes with ONDO aimed at enabling this farmer to achieve the above goals.
In Organic raspberry farm ‘Stoychev’ ONDO has installed automation of the irrigation, as well as automated precise fertigation via a 3-channel FertiOn precise fertigation solution. Now, the farm can ensure that the organic nutrients are provided to the plants in a very precise manner, only when the plants need them.
This is a big farm and their automation has been accomplished in a very cost-efficient manner using 10 ONDO wireless AIR Point modules, managing almost 40 irrigation valves. Thanks to integrating soil moisture sensors in the system, the farmer can fully automate the plant irrigation, based on the real-time soil moisture data coming from the sensors.
The automation has been completed before the end of the current crop season, so the farmer and owner – Radostin Stoychev – has already had the chance to use it in full and even shared his very positive experience so far – including the ability to understand how to work with his system within 30 minutes! – at the official opening of this demo point a few weeks ago. For us it is both experience and results that measure the impact of the ONDO automation, so – we look forward to seeing the first results achieved by this farm thanks to ONDO automation, in terms of increased profits and much optimized resource usage.
Stay tuned for case study results from this farm after their first full crop season!
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