Creation of a land irrigation system main country of the buyer

When they talk aboutcreation of a land irrigation system main country of the buyer, many immediately imagine standard schemes with pipes and pumps. But in reality, everything is more complicated - for example, in Uzbekistan, clients have been using outdated ditches for years, and attempts to introduce drip irrigation failed due to incorrect calculation of soil mineralization. We at Shandong Linyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology LLC, through a project in the Fergana Valley, found out that local agronomists often ignore data on the electrical conductivity of water, which leads to salinization after 2-3 seasons. We had to revise the entire logic of filter selection and add automatic washing modules - without this, even expensive equipment turned into a pile of metal.

Pitfalls of designing for a specific region

In Kazakhstan, for example, standard solutions were initially laid out for flat zones, but in the Aktobe region they were faced with height differences of up to 80 meters. Standard valves did not hold pressure; cascade reducers had to be installed. By the way, on the website https://www.lyzhihuinongye.ru we just posted a case on setting up frequency converters for such conditions - we discussed in detail how to avoid water hammer when starting pumps.

The sandy soils of Turkmenistan turned out to be especially problematic - the water went deep without having time to saturate the root zone. I had to combine drip tapes with surface pulse irrigation. We hesitated between the two schemes for almost a month until we tried out a temporary option on a test site. Result: water consumption decreased by 40%, but the frequency of cycles had to be increased.

I remember the case of a farmer from the Tashkent region who demanded “the most modern system?”. We installed smart controllers with remote control for him, and six months later we received a complaint - it turned out that he continued to water “by eye” because the interface was translated with errors. We had to urgently send the technician for training directly to the field. Now we adapt all interfaces to local dialects.

Equipment that actually works

For a project in the Khorezm region, filters with automatic backwashing were used - without them, sand would destroy the drippers within a week. But then a new problem arose: local electrical networks gave voltage surges up to 380V when the norm was 220V. Three control units burned until the stabilizers were connected through step-down transformers. The finalization took almost a month, but now we take this experience into account in all projects in Central Asia.

Frequency converters are a different story. In Kyrgyzstan, due to the altitude of 1500 meters above sea level, standard models overheated. We had to order versions with forced cooling, which increased the cost of the project by 18%. The customer was indignant at first, but when he saw that the neighboring farm had lost its entire pepper harvest without such a decision, he immediately agreed.

Remote valve control systems often broke down due to dust storms. We had to develop hermetic boxes with double seals. By the way, it was this experience that helped us when creating a mobile version of management for smart agricultural parks - we are now testing it in the Nurata region.

Difficulties in integration with local infrastructure

In the Bukhara region, they were faced with the fact that local pumping stations operated on Soviet equipment. It was necessary to design transition units with relay protection - standard PLC controllers did not interface with old sensors. It took almost three weeks to set it up, constantly visiting the site with an oscilloscope.

Energy supply is a constant headache. In remote villages, electricity is often cut off, so they began to equip the systems with backup batteries and solar panels. Suddenly it turned out that the panels needed to be covered with anti-dust nets - otherwise the efficiency dropped by 60% within a month.

Local building codes sometimes contradicted our calculations. In Samarkand, the design of foundations for tanks had to be redesigned - local depth requirements turned out to be 40% greater than standard ones. It added costs, but now we consider this region one of the most reliable for long-term projects.

Economic nuances that are not written in textbooks

The cost of the system was often inflated due to customs duties - in some CIS countries, the import of water filtration equipment was subject to additional fees. We had to establish local production of some components through partners. For example, we now make plastic fittings in Almaty, which has reduced logistics by 3 weeks.

Local subsidies are a double-edged sword. In Kazakhstan, the state compensated up to 50% of the costs of drip irrigation, but required the use of certain brands of equipment. We had to certify our frequency converters through the local Institute of Agricultural Engineering - the process took 8 months.

Currency fluctuations greatly affected long-term contracts. In 2022, we had to revise the payment terms for Uzbek partners - we switched to payments in tenge linked to the NBU exchange rate. Not ideal, but at least they maintained the margin.

Technological discoveries that have justified themselves

Modular system architecture is the best solution for gradual implementation. In Tajikistan they started with basic drip irrigation, a year later they added automation, then soil moisture sensors. Farmers saw the results and were more willing to invest in development.

Hybrid systems with backup water intakes saved the project in the Golodnaya Steppe. When the main canal dried up, the automation switched to artesian wells. True, we had to install additional filters for iron - the water from the wells contained 3 times more metals.

Mobile monitoring applications were initially made in Russian, but in Kyrgyz villages they preferred voice messages in the local language. The interface was redesigned to support audio prompts - the percentage of use increased from 15% to 68%.

Prospects for the development of the direction

Now we are experimenting with water recycling systems for greenhouse complexes - in conditions of water shortage this becomes critically important. The first tests in Nukus showed savings of up to 70% when growing tomatoes.

AI for watering forecasting does not yet justify the costs - sensors and complex analytics are too expensive. But simplified algorithms based on weather stations already provide savings of 20-25%.

Local production facilities are the next step. We are planning to assemble controllers in Uzbekistan in order to reduce delivery times. A test batch has already been launched through a joint venture in Andijan.