Exploration of underground water resources with interest-free instalment payments

After a very rainy June, HydroHunter Italy has been busy all summer searching for underground water. The mission of this company, based in Italy (Tuscany) but operating in many continents, is to help farmers who are having difficulty irrigating their fruit and vegetable crops, stressed by the heat and threatened by climate change.

Vincenzo Orso

"We offer a useful service to farms that report water shortage problems," explains pilot Vincenzo Orso, "thanks to our aircraft equipment, we are able to identify possible water reservoirs and avoid wasting the farmer's money on dozens of drillings where the aquifers do not exist.” It therefore supports artesian wells, but only where they are economically viable. After a summer characterized by a prolonged lack of rain and significant heat waves, we are worried that the fall will be particularly mild and dry, as was the case last year. Deep soil scanning costs no more than 10-15% of what drilling companies charge to dig an artesian well. With our systems, we can provide each customer with an exact point and depth where it is worthwhile to drill.

In order to support farmers in a time of economic crisis, Hydrohunter Italy has signed agreements with European financial institutions to provide subsidized funding tailored to farms, especially small and medium enterprises.

"These are microcredits with instalments. Loans of 6-12-18 months without interest. Our aim is to attract those producers who are still skeptical: by spreading the small investment over several tranches, we could convince them to believe in technological innovation. We know that many companies are suffering from reduced crop yields due to the bizarre weather and the unstable socio-economic situation. Therefore, even a few hundred euros could make a difference to their budgets. We know that the drought is going to continue and have a major impact on the agricultural sector. Having immediate and accurate answers as soon as possible on a given plot could reduce risks and avoid further unprofitable decisions."