PIK Bečej, a member of the MK Group that operates within the MK Agriculture Division, organized Field Days near Bečej. On that occasion, the project “Implementing software for irrigation recommendations” was presented, the aim of which is to use appropriate technology to make significant savings in water consumption, as one of the most important natural resources, and to optimize costs in agricultural production. Thanks to the sensors placed on the plots under irrigation and the weather forecast from the weather station, information is obtained at the depth at which water is available to the crops, in what quantity and whether there is a need for irrigation. PIK Bečej established cooperation with the Dutch company Daka for the realization of this project, and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Republic of Serbia also provided support.
„We are very happy to be here today to present a project partially funded by the Dutch Government. It is a project realized in cooperation between MK Group and the Dutch company Dakom, which provides digitization of technology and management of irrigation control, which is very important for a more sustainable and profitable agricultural sector”, said Koen van Ginneken, Regional Attaché for Agriculture of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The Dutch company Dakom, which is known in the world for solutions for innovative and precise agriculture, started cooperation with PIK Bečej in order to achieve better irrigation control. On behalf of PIK Bečej, the project was presented by Goran Jašin, Head of Irrigation in this company.
„The smart irrigation project will contribute to better decision-making in irrigation processes, resulting in cost optimization in production itself and savings in water consumption as an important resource. Precision agriculture and smart technologies also contribute to better yields, because based on the data we get from installed sensors and weather stations, we can implement adequate measures to irrigate our plots and the crops we grow,” said Goran Jašin.
„By applying the latest technologies, we achieve above-average yields on the 13,000 hectares we cultivate, with a total production of over 220,000 tons of all arable and vegetable crops on an annual basis. I would especially like to point out that over 70% of the land we cultivate is under irrigation systems”, said Sanja Savić, Acting Head of the MK Agriculture Division.
The MK Agriculture Division, within the MK Group System, includes companies engaged in farming, cattle breeding, production and processing of vegetables and fruits, and viticulture. They have a leading position in Serbian agriculture thanks to pioneering efforts in the digitization of agriculture and constant investments in irrigation systems and innovations to increase productivity.
