We are glad and content when the ONDO customers report the benefits they get from their ONDO automation. And we are even happier when those results motivate our customers to expand and upgrade their ONDO automation.
We’ve got yet another customer – farm Uchitelski located in Petrich, Bulgaria – expanding their ONDO automation, just one month after their first installation has been completed. Thus, farm Uchitelski is already automating the irrigation and precise fertigation in a total of 2 ha of greenhouses, in which they are growing pink tomato, cucumbers, peppers, leafy greens and other vegetables.
Farm Uchitelski has a total of 4 farming properties, but they are significantly distanced – 15 km and more – from each other. Due to the mountainous terrain of the properties, reaching them takes considerable time for the team working on the farm.
The owner of the farm – Krasimir Uchitelski – has recently been actively looking for options to modernise the farm and financially support this modernisation, including by applying for different EU agricultural projects. Meanwhile, he was referred to ONDO by a colleague and decided to try the ONDO automation in one of his farming properties – you can learn more about this first installation in our blog post.
In the very first month after his ONDO installation had been completed, the owner of the farm was actively using the system and testing out its potential. In addition to his daily work with the irrigation and fertigation programs and schedules, he was also regularly ensuring the reliable sending of alarm notifications and verifying the capabilities of the system to adapt to the irrigation and fertigation needs of each crop, as well as to the specifics of his existing infrastructure for irrigation and fertigation.
For our customer, ONDO’s flexibility with regard to the fertigation was particularly important – he had the option to fertigate by time, quantity and proportional quantity. He also appreciated the ability to monitor and control with ONDO numerous extra devices from the farm’s irrigation and fertigation infrastructure like water drilling, hygrometers and others.
Right from the first days of using ONDO, the farm owner has been seeing significant savings – savings in time spent for the daily irrigation and fertigation in the 4 farming properties, savings in travel time and savings in travel expenses. Those were a key motivator for his prompt decision to invest in the irrigation and fertigation automation of all of his farming properties. Thanks to the business model of ONDO, based on zero upfront investment and subscription payments, this follow-up automation was easily accessible to the farmer and he could move on with it asap.
After ONDO completed the automation of the irrigation and precise fertigation in farm Uchitelski’s 3 extra farm properties, the control and monitoring of all farm properties is now only a click away. ‘While having my morning coffee at home, I can start the irrigation in all my farming properties’ – says the owner of the farm Krassimir Uchitelski. And adds:
‘With ONDO I free up 5 to 6 hours a day that I used to deal with irrigating and fertigating in my 4 properties. Now I have more time to spend with my family, I have time to inspect the farm, analyse and adjust the irrigation and fertigation in the greenhouses.
As another key benefit from the automation with ONDO Krasimir Uchitelski points out the elimination of the human error. The human factor was the reason behind frequent over-irrigation or under-irrigation, open irrigation valves being forgotten, over-fertigation and others, which reflected upon the quality and quantity of the produce, and resulted in excessive use of water, fertilizer and energy.
In the near future the farmer plans to upgrade his ONDO automation by adding fertigation by EC/PH values. He also looks forward to implementing automated climate control in the greenhouses, along with the integration of a weather station.
We are glad when ONDO contributes to the excellent business results and the better quality of life of the farmers, as well as to the optimal use of the natural resources. Because this is the path to making agriculture an attractive, successful and sustainable business sector.
