Production of irrigation systems main country of buyer

When they talk aboutbuyer's main country, many immediately imagine gigantic contracts with Arab sheikhs. But in fact, there are dozens of nuances in this segment that are not visible at first glance. For seven years now, through Shandong Linyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology LLC, we have been supplying drip irrigation systems to Central Asia, and I can say that the rules of the game are completely different there.

Why Uzbekistan became our main market

In 2018, we mistakenly believed thatproduction of irrigation systemsshould focus on the Gulf countries. We sent a test batch there - it turned out that their requirements for automation were an order of magnitude higher than our capabilities at that time. But in Uzbekistan, a program for modernizing agriculture had just begun, and our decisions were just right.

Now through the website https://www.lyzhihuinongye.ru we regularly receive requests from this region. Local agricultural holdings value not so much cutting-edge technology as reliability in conditions of hard water and power surges. Our engineers specially modified water filters to take into account the high salt content in local sources.

An interesting point - in the Fergana Valley they prefer systems with the possibility of remote control, but without full automation. Farmers there want to control watering themselves, simply by doing it from their phone. We had to reconsider our standard product line.

Technical features for different regions

For Kazakhstan, for example, frost resistance of equipment is critically important. In the first year, we lost several contracts due to the fact that we did not take into account the depth of soil freezing - their winters turned out to be harsher than we expected. Now that's itproduction of irrigation systemsfor northern regions includes additional insulation of main pipes.

In Turkmenistan, another problem is sandstorms. Standard controllers failed after six months of operation. We developed special protective covers, although this increased the cost by 12%. But customers are willing to pay for durability.

The most difficult thing was with Tajikistan - there is difficult terrain and elevation changes. It was necessary to develop a zonal pressure system together with local engineers. By the way, this experience was later useful for other mountain regions.

Errors in logistics and how they were corrected

The first two years we suffered serious losses due to incorrect calculation of transportation costs. It turns out that delivering equipment to Dushanbe is more expensive than to Astana, although the distance is shorter. We had to completely rebuild the supply chain.

Now we work through regional warehouses in Almaty and Tashkent. This made it possible to reduce delivery times from 45 to 14 days. Although initially I was against it - it seemed that maintaining warehouses would be too expensive. In practice, this increased sales by 30%.

The biggest mistake is that we did not take into account the customs features of the EAEU. In 2019, a shipment of equipment was stuck on the border of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan for three weeks. Now we have a separate specialist who deals only with customs clearance.

Adaptation of products to local conditions

Our standard smart irrigation systems were originally designed for large farms. But in Uzbekistan there are many medium-sized farmer cooperatives that do not need complex solutions. We had to develop simplified versions with basic automation.

An interesting experience was with the filtration system - in Karakalpakstan, the water contains many mechanical impurities. Standard filters clogged within a week. An additional purification stage was added, although this increased the cost of the system by 8%. But clients were ready for such a premium.

We are currently testing new models of remote control valves specifically for cotton fields. There, a special watering regime is required at different phases of crop growth. If the tests are successful, this could become our competitive advantage in the region.

Prospects for development in the region

Now I see potential in the development of smart agricultural parks. A program for digitalization of the agro-industrial complex is beginning in Kazakhstan, and our developments in the field of integration of water and fertilizers may be in demand.

We are also considering the possibility of localizing the production of some components in Uzbekistan. Local authorities offer incentives for joint ventures. True, I’m not yet sure of the quality of local materials - additional tests need to be carried out.

The main conclusion over the years: you cannot approachbuyer's main countryas something permanent. Markets are changing, new opportunities are emerging. For example, recently there has been a growing demand for irrigation systems for vineyards in Georgia - perhaps it is worth paying attention to this area.

At the same time, we continue to develop our main direction -production of irrigation systemsfor cotton and wheat in Central Asia. Experience has shown that it is better to deeply study several cultures in a particular region than to try to cover everything at once.