An 'electronic agronomist' created in Ukraine reduces costs by 20%
Source: VFD.com
An 'electronic agronomist' created in Ukraine reduces costs by 20% Thanks! An 'electronic agronomist' created in Ukraine reduces costs by 20% Green Future Engineering, a company engaged in the development, production and sale of equipment for professional hydroponic systems and also operating its own vertical farm in Dnipro, has developed a fully automated growing control system that allows all processes to be managed without the involvement of an agronomist.
"We have created a so-called «electronic agronomist» that takes full control of growing processes — from monitoring to decision-making." © Green Future Engineering Human involvement has been reduced to a minimum: farm employees perform only basic operations, including planting and packaging greens. At the same time, all technological processes are controlled by the system.
Shuleshko assures that despite the absence of agronomic support, product quality remains high. The implementation of this solution has already produced an economic effect: operating costs have been reduced by 20%, production costs have decreased, and product quality has improved.
Why this matters: For operators, this is a water-management story. The useful signal is that direct substrate measurements can help cut drain loss materially without giving up yield or fruit quality, which is exactly the kind of controllable efficiency gain a facility can build on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does substrate sensing matter in free-drain strawberry systems?
Because drain percentage tells a grower what already happened, while substrate moisture and EC data show root-zone conditions directly. That makes it easier to cut water loss without guessing.
What is the operator takeaway from this trial?
If the thresholds are understood well enough, growers can reduce drain water materially while protecting yield and fruit quality, which makes sensing an operational tool instead of a reporting tool.
