Gardeners line up to buy wind machines to protect the garden

Horticulturists may have significant losses due to natural disasters, the most devastating of which is spring frosts, SEEDS reports.
Only in Ukraine, according to estimates of the analytical project APK-Inform: Vegetables and Fruits, the average annual losses of Ukrainian horticulture from frosts reach 1.7-2.0 billion UAH. ($64-80 million). These numbers were recently voiced by the representative of the company FROSTLEE Crop Protection Systems Denis Moskalev, writes EastFruit. Losses in other countries of the region are probably comparable to these figures or even bigger. In particular, Uzbekistan's losses from frosts this year probably exceeded this figure.
Thus, horticulturists are losing money that could have been invested in improving the efficiency of fruit growing and finishing.
And since protecting orchards, vineyards or berries from frosts with wind machines is the most versatile and affordable of the effective methods of protection, the EastFruit team decided to ask about the feasibility of installing such machines in orchards in our region.
Having made inquiries to all known companies supplying wind machines in Europe, journalists found that buying a windmill is not as easy as it seems. While these protection systems have long been used successfully mainly in the United States, Canada and New Zealand, they have been used in Europe relatively recently. In recent years, interest in windmills has increased dramatically, and there have been few suppliers of such solutions on the market. Incidentally, many of them are companies from the U.S., New Zealand and Turkey that sell frost protection wind machines to Europe.
So gardeners in Europe are now literally lining up for wind machines. And the average waiting time after pre-ordering and prepayment is already more than one year. In addition, with raw material and transport prices rising around the world, and with demand outstripping supply, the prices of wind machines are constantly increasing. Demand for frost protection is also increasing in the U.S., New Zealand and Turkey, where these machines are manufactured, so it is not always possible to export in significant quantities. Needless to say, every wind machine now produced in the factories has already been repurchased. One of the manufacturers noted that in 2021 he sold more than 200 "windmills" to France alone.
However, for gardeners in Ukraine, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Georgia and other countries in the region, the situation is exacerbated by the fact that there are no representatives of these companies in the markets. After all, installation and maintenance of a windmill machine requires certain qualifications. Distributors from other countries are too busy to deal with deliveries to countries where there has been no interest in these technologies until recently.
Nevertheless, we note that representatives of wind machine manufacturers are appearing in our market as well. It means that in the coming years, Ukraine is expected to receive investments in reducing the weather risks of horticulture. But it is worth thinking about it now.
By the way, FROSTLEE will participate in the 17th International Conference "Vegetables and Fruits of Ukraine-2021. New Investment Opportunities" on December 3, 2021 in Kiev.

Source: SEEDS

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