
Everybody's talking aboutAgricultural Irrigation Tools, as a promising direction. Indeed, demand is growing, but the issue with the main purchasing countries, it seems to me, often remains behind the scenes. Many companies, like us at Shandong Linyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology LLC (https://www.lyzhihuinongye.ru), focus on technology, forgetting about real market needs and, as a result, about geography. In fact, the situation is much more complex than just “Europe, America, Asia”. Let's look at this in more detail, based on our experience.
I’ll say right away that statistics are good, but the numbers don’t say much about real purchasing power and preferences. For example, Europe is not a homogeneous market. The needs of farmers in Spain and in Denmark may be very different, even if both countries are part of the EU. The same goes for Asia. China, India, Japan are completely different players with different infrastructure, political characteristics and, accordingly, requirements for irrigation systems.
For a long time we have focused on the European market, especially Germany and the Netherlands, offering sophisticated, high-tech solutions. And in some ways it worked. But then we ran into problems with logistics, customs duties, and, most importantly, the fact that our solutions were simply too expensive for most European farmers. As a result, we had to reconsider the strategy.
We now see huge potential in Asia. Especially in China and India. In China, of course, competition is high, but there is a huge market there, and the government actively supports the development of agriculture. India is a different case. There, despite economic difficulties, the demand for modern irrigation systems is growing, especially in those regions where water supply problems are most acute. On the other hand, the cost of equipment is very important there, and it is necessary to offer the optimal price-quality ratio.
One of the interesting projects that we carried out in India was the development and delivery of an automated irrigation system for rice fields. It was not the most expensive equipment, but it provided high efficiency and significantly reduced water consumption. This is very valuable to Indian farmers, especially in a changing climate.
The market in Russia and the CIS countries is often underestimated. Yes, there are difficulties there - logistics, political situation, currency fluctuations. But on the other hand, there is great potential for development there. Especially in regions with water shortages and developing agriculture. For example, in the Krasnodar Territory or the Astrakhan Region, the demand for modern irrigation systems is constantly growing.
We have several successful projects in Russia related to the implementation of drip irrigation systems in fruit orchards. In these cases, we worked directly with local distributors, which allowed us to provide quality service and customer support. This is perhaps one of the most promising markets for us now, despite all the complexity.
You can't be everything to everyone. Too often companies try to cover all markets and offer a wide range of products. As a result, they are lost and cannot compete effectively. We were able to achieve success by focusing on several key areas: automated irrigation systems, water filtration equipment, remote valve control. We also specialize in customized solutions tailored to clients' specific needs.
For example, we recently developed an irrigation system for vineyards taking into account the microclimate and soil type. It was not the easiest task, but the result exceeded all expectations. The client experienced a significant increase in yield and reduction in water consumption.
It's worth mentioning some mistakes we've made in the past. For example, we tried to sell complex, high-tech systems to farmers who simply couldn't afford them. This resulted in wasted time and resources. We also underestimated the importance of localization - adapting products and marketing materials to specific markets. As a result, our products seemed difficult to use and did not meet the needs of local farmers.
We are now placing greater emphasis on simplicity, reliability and affordability of our products. We are also actively working on localizing our solutions, adapting them to the specific conditions and needs of each market. This, in my opinion, is the key to success inAgricultural Irrigation Tools.