By: NaanDanJain – Agro-technical department
Fake irrigation
In recent years, NaanDanJain has become aware of an increasing number of sprinklers on the market that are counterfeits of its own products.
An examination conducted by the company’s regional managers revealed that approximately 20 companies around the world are imitating our successful models, which have proven their high quality in the field.
The models suffering the most from this phenomenon include 5022 (which can ‘boast’ more than 100 different knock-offs!), and also model 5035. While these counterfeiters are, for the moment, incapable of duplicating NaanDanJain’s exceptional quality,
and lack a distribution network and the professional support we provide our clients withat the level of the individual product, farmers find it very difficult to differentiate the genuine NaanDanJain product from the imitation.
They have even succeeded to deceive some of our own personnel.
The ‘arm’ makes all the difference
In order to differentiate its products and take immediate action against the counterfeiters, in the coming weeks NaanDanJain will begin affixing a hologram with a secret code to its sprinklers,
to confirm their authenticity. However, the company is doing even more: it has decided to turn this challenge into an opportunity by developing a new and innovative product:
the SD, or selective diffuser. The SD, which has been patent-registered, is an engineering upgrade that is difficult to copy.
Following its highly successful assimilation into a limited number of the company’s flagship sprinklers, the implementation of the SD technology has been expanded.
NaanDanJain is now proud to introduce the SD family, which comprises eight advanced sprinklers, five of which are used widely around the world, and the remaining three will be marketed soon.
The Agronomist Kobi Shilo explains: “The classic sprinklers suffer from a well-known problem: the sprinkler provides good coverage of the outer circumference of the irrigation circle, but the inner circle suffers from insufficient irrigation.
The old solution comprised two heads – one for the inner circle, and the other for the outer one.
NaanDanJain managed to achieve maximal coverage using only one head, by redesigning it, and also adding the unique, graduated SD ‘arm’, which directs a single water jet alternately to the near range and to the far range.”
It works!
The advantages of the SD sprinklers are numerous and significant. Hassan Khateb, the Sprinkler and Micro Sprinkler Product Line Manager, explains: “The SD sprinkler’s water jet is stronger, and it produces larger drops. It is also less sensitive to the effects of the wind, and less prone to blockages.
It covers a larger area, and thus allows increasing the space between irrigation lines by up to 30%, which results in cost savings in both system purchase and maintenance – in examining the sprinklers and repairing them.”
It is important to remember that the sprinkler itself costs the farmer only about 5% of the total irrigation system cost. All the other costs revolve around the pipes and the accessories.
Therefore, the SD technology of the sprinklers actually generates costs savings of up to 30% for the farmer.
Almost like rain
Kobi Shilo adds: “The Christiansen Uniformity coefficient is a coefficient used to statistically examine how rainwater is dispersed, and assigns a ‘score’ of 100% when the plant is well covered.
NaanDanJain’s SD sprinklers received a score of above 90%, while other systems earn scores of only 75% to 85%. This is extremely important, since it affects crop growth uniformity, the yield and the quality of the produce; for uniform, high quality crops the amount of water must be just right – not too little, not too much. There is no need to over-irrigate in order to make up for insufficiency in certain areas, which allows conserving water and the fertilizer mixed into the irrigation water.
Additionally, the entire crop of vegetables is uniformly sized, as the market prefers.”
Success in Israel and around the world
Hassan Khateb adds that SD sprinklers have revolutionized the irrigation world in Israel: in the last three years the vast majority of the potato, radish and carrot farmers in Israel have switched to these innovative sprinklers.
The SD family is successfully penetrating international markets as well. As an example, not long ago a large shipment of 73,000 SD sprinklers was dispatched abroad to fill the needs of a banana growing project covering an area of 1,000 hectares.
Individual attention to each crop
The innovative SD sprinklers join the broad variety of unique irrigation products developed by NaanDanJain, which believes in tailor-made solutions.
The company’s solutions are classified into three main categories: sprinklers, micro-sprinklers and drip irrigation systems.
NaanDanJain specializes in providing a tailored irrigation solution for each crop,
taking into consideration the soil it is growing in, the specific weather conditions and numerous additional factors, which together form the complete and distinctive picture.