The quarantine imposed due to the pandemic proved the importance of agricultural projects for the country as a whole and for each individual city in particular, says Amangeldy Taukenov, General Director of Led System. At the same time, it is new technologies that can increase the yield of, for example, modern greenhouses. He was able to confirm his theory thanks to an experimental greenhouse built by his team in the special economic zone “Astana”. The businessman told the correspondent why the development of crop production enterprises can significantly improve the food security of Kazakhstan and what investments are required to introduce high-tech know-how in them “Капитал.kz”.
– Amangeldy Sagatovich, any innovative projects in various industries initially involve considerable investment. How much did it cost you to create an advanced greenhouse?
– Led System, which has been manufacturing led lighting systems since 2012, has launched an innovative greenhouse project using nanomaterials from the very beginning. The fact is that in recent years, there has been a trend in the development of such areas as “agrophotonics” or the influence of artificial light on the productivity of growing plants (as well as vegetables, fruits, berries. – Ed.) in the closed ground. We decided not to stay on the sidelines, have applied for participation in the competition declared by Fund of science of MES RK, and won a grant in the amount of 300 million tenge for the launch of an experimental greenhouse. In addition, the company invested about 80 million tenge of its own funds in this project. All the money was spent on construction, development of technologies, their testing in the greenhouse, as well as on equipment and infrastructure. At the same time, I note that our team has never been engaged in crop production on closed ground before. But when analyzing the existing forms, we tried to show the effectiveness and efficiency of developments in the field of agrophotonics, with the possibility of visual, practical application. We had to learn from scratch and learn all the tricks of building and operating greenhouses literally from books, as well as with the involvement of professional farmers. But, looking ahead, I will say that the project was worth all our efforts and expenses. I am deeply convinced that today greenhouse farming should be one of the components of the development of the entire rural area and, first of all, crop production. It is in an undeveloped state both in Kazakhstan and in the post-Soviet space as a whole in terms of introducing innovative ideas.
– How quickly do you expect to recoup costs and get a net profit?
– The average payback period for such greenhouses is 5-7 years. Two years after its construction, the greenhouse is already making a profit, and sales growth is showing an upward trend. At the same time, we get from 70 to 85 kilograms of tomatoes and cucumbers from one square. In a normal greenhouse, the yield, if additional light is used, usually reaches 50-70 kg per square meter, without illumination – 40-60 kg per square meter. today, the team sets an ambitious goal – to get 100 kg per square meter. The total area of the greenhouse is 6400 square meters. m, where one half is devoted to growing cucumbers, and the other half to growing tomatoes. There is also a seedling Department where greens and strawberries are grown in between plantings. In addition, this year, together with business partners and scientists from the S. Seifullin Agrotechnical University, we have planned to implement innovative ideas. For example, there are several devices that we will install in the greenhouse, they will control all the important parameters for growing.
– Against the background of the pandemic and ensuring food security, it is important to develop innovative agricultural projects like yours?
– Today it is important to focus the attention of both the state and the business community on projects in the agro-industrial sector and on the introduction of advanced technologies. The quarantine imposed due to the pandemic has shown the full significance of the processes that affect the provision of food in the country. This includes the development of greenhouse complexes in cities that need constant supplies of products from outside. After all, during the emergency, the cities were cut off from each other, which greatly affected their food supply. During the quarantine, we brought our products to the courtyards of houses, because the markets were closed and not all stores near the house could find fresh vegetables and fruits.
– So you think that this kind of greenhouses in the country has prospects to increase sales of products?
– In Kazakhstan, you can build any innovative production, the main thing is to clearly define the sales market. Today’s realities show that in megacities, for example in Nur-Sultan, there are definitely not enough greenhouses. Those that exist do not meet the demand, so about 70% of products – vegetables and fruits – are imported from the South of Kazakhstan. Without greenhouses, taking into account the climatic conditions of the city, it will not be easy to meet the need for fresh vegetables and fruits, in case of re-introduction of the state of emergency and quarantine. Crop production on closed ground is the best option for providing residents of megacities with food.
Are you talking about the demand in case of force majeure circumstances. And if we forecast sales growth in General?
– Russian border cities are currently interested in domestic agricultural products. They are ready to enter into wholesale long-term contracts for the constant supply of fresh vegetables and fruits. Today, the greenhouse is provided only by Nur-Sultan, but in the future it is planned to expand, because there are sales markets. But in order to provide products not only to the capital, but also to nearby localities, as well as to export goods, we need more areas of closed ground and equipment. With the financial support of institutions and interested companies, our specialists are ready to help other businessmen launch new greenhouses: support the project from the moment of registration of documents to its full launch. We have come this way from beginning to end and understand where to start, how to start and how to maintain greenhouses.
– If we talk specifically about the sale of products from your greenhouse, were you able to establish permanent sales channels?
– Our anchor buyers include supermarket chains, convenience stores, and an airline that adds fresh vegetables to its on-Board menu. There are also pre-school institutions to which we regularly supply our products. In General, over the two years of its existence, the greenhouse has received recognition from such a category of customers who accurately monitor the quality of products. In addition, today it also produces canned vegetables, which are also popular with customers.
– How competitive is the cost of your products compared to the market?
– Energy savings due to the introduction of our own led lamps ultimately affect the cost of production. We do not have price gradation – for both wholesalers and retail, it is the only one that is competitive. But first of all, the consumer, when buying vegetables from us, sees how high-quality they are: the same size, with a pleasant aroma, not moldy and not wet. We set the market price for products and opened our own store so that wholesale dealers would not be tempted to resell it.
– Do you think it is important to improve the agricultural sector in the country in terms of development and implementation of technologies?
– This is really a very important sector for Kazakhstan. For our part, we are moving in the direction that we initially chose – the introduction of new technologies in crop production. For example, today we are working with one of the Almaty companies that is engaged in the implementation of artificial intelligence in growing vegetables. In other words, you can now conduct all agricultural processes by setting certain parameters for artificial intelligence: manage the greenhouse, turn on and off watering, open curtains, add or decrease light, and so on. World experience shows that innovations in crop production have a very strong positive effect. A striking example of successful experience is considered to be the Netherlands, which is the leader in the development of greenhouse farming in the world. Of course, technologies require a lot of investment, but they are the future of the agricultural industry.
– What are your future plans for business development?
– When we ourselves, after launching our own greenhouse, saw the effective impact of our lamps on productivity, we launched two areas of activity. The first is consulting for those who want to build greenhouses, but don’t know where to start. We can help with support: from project documentation to sales consultations. The second direction is the sale of special lighting equipment for existing greenhouses. Yes, the price of lamps can not be called cheap – one lamp costs from $150 to 180. On average, a greenhouse needs at least 3000-3500 thousand lamps per hectare. But they pay off in 1.5 years. At the same time, there will be significant savings on electricity: thanks to led lamps, energy consumption for lighting greenhouses is reduced by 5 times.
Source: https://kapital.kz/economic/89048/kak-tekhnologii-menyayut-teplichnyye-khozyaystva.html
