Agrico: your turnkey irrigation solution

From planning, pumps and pipelines to full automation and system management, range of irrigation solutions. Leave the irrigation to Agrico, and you can focus on optimising yield and quality.

Wedged between the Motloutse and Limpopo rivers in southern Botswana is Kwanentle Farm, which is prohibited from using the rivers for irrigation purposes. To solve this problem, Agrico installed more than 17 boreholes parallel to the Motloutse to provide a sustainable supply of water.

The farm specialises in cash crops, maize and sugar beans. To keep costs low, boreholes were constructed near the reservoirs. Thereafter, the Agrico team dug trenches for the main lines and cable routes, installed the pipeline, and set up pump stations. When everything was in place, the farm had 24 centre pivots, three pump stations, and three distribution dams.

Agrico is Southern Africa’s largest supplier of irrigation systems and completes turnkey projects across Africa. In effect, this means that a farmer can leave the entire project to Agrico; the company will take full responsibility, from first contact and assessment, to delivery, installation and after-sales support.

A Typical Irrigation Project

Here is an example of a project outline, from start to finish:

•  Survey and assessment

Agrico completes a detailed survey of the farm and assesses its suitability for irrigation. Its experts then help the farmer choose the best type of irrigation based on the farm’s source of water, energy resources and topography.

•  Design

Agrico’s skilled team of engineers provide detailed plans of hydraulic systems and pump stations to ensure smooth, on-budget project implementation. All equipment and systems are designed to reduce ultimate operational expenditure.

•  Shipment and delivery

The entire irrigation system is shipped in complete knocked-down form.

•  Installation

Agrico installs the full system on site. This includes digging trenches, laying cables, constructing pump stations and erecting centre pivots.

•  Automation

Agrico Web Control offers system management and control over pivots and pumps as a complete unit, simplifying irrigation management and saving energy. The company’s fully automated irrigation systems enable customers to manage their irrigation systems remotely from any smart device.

•  After-sales service

After installation, Agrico commissions the project and offers technical aftersales service to provide the farmer with comprehensive and expert irrigation support, advice and maintenance.

Agrico has 38 branches across Southern Africa, including two branches in Zambia. With its in-depth understanding of water scarcity in the region, the company understands the need to optimise irrigation systems to conserve this precious resource. In this regard, every detail is considered: Agrico systems are designed to reduce evaporation and run-off, durable materials are used to prevent leaks, nozzle spacing is adjusted to ensure optimal distribution, irrigation is scheduled correctly, and much more.

Power And Sustainability

Agrico’s systems are also designed so that they are energy-efficient, keeping power consumption and operating costs at a farm as low as possible.

Agrico understands the need for farmers to conserve water resources and energy to ensure their farming is done in a way that sustains the environment and their profitability as an enterprise. www.agrico.co.za. FW