Giuseppe Minzoni irrigates its 120 hectares of vegetables which are entirely destined for Orogel Surgelati using satellite data processed through an algorithm that compares rainfall with the situation of the soil. The system is called Manna Irrigation and uses satellite Sentinel 2.
Photo taken by da www.nve.no
"It's a system developed in Israel based on multi-spectral photos taken by the satellite every four days. A software processes them with an algorithm that indicates the weekly water volumes that need to be distributed in relation with rainfall, so as to approach the actual water requirement of crops."
Basically the entrepreneur pays a fee and has access to the Manna website. He then locates his crops using Google Earth and enters type of crop, transplant date, soil and irrigation system.
Photo taken by rivistageomedia.it
"Satellite photos show how much the crop has grown, whether it is uniform or not, vegetative propagation and weekly changes." Minzoni currently produces parsley, chard, chicory, tomatoes and onions.
Orogel Surgelati's contracts are stipulated in October, so growers know how much they will get paid. Minzoni sells around 3500/4000 tons of fresh vegetables every year, ready to be frozen in just a few hours.
Kale was recently introduced: it's a newly rediscovered superfood typical of the Mediterranean cooking tradition. From mid-August to early September, it will sow chicory, herbs, spinach and green beans.
Before using the satellite, Minzoni employed probes that could measure soil humidity to reduce energy and water consumption.