Global agricultural production has been stagnating since the 90’s and the industry has been characterized by a mismatch between supply and demand. Further this industry is characterized by the following:
- High capital requirements (land & equipment)
- High input cost of production
- Unstable production volumes and prices
- Short shelf life of products and high spoilage rate (approximately 25% of production)
- Low returns on investments and long payback terms
- High risks (e.g. weather dependent and pathogen, pests can destroy whole crops in short time)
- Excessive use of chemicals, pesticides and anti-microbial resulting in increased microbial resistance and chemical residues in food.
- Progressive pressure on the availability of arable land in highly populated countries. Withdraw of farm subsidies due to ‘free trade’
The agricultural & horticultural industry is a strategic supplier of food to man and as such an extremely important industry, yet the riskiest and least profitable industries.
Usage of ECA generated HOCL offers yield enhancement and a pathogen /bio-film control system, saving production costs significantly. The increase in yield has been reported in actual field trials for the production of Barley, celery, tomatoes, lettuce and carnations as well as cucumbers, strawberries, grapes and flowers in particularly roses.
HOCL will improve quality and extent shelf life of fresh products as well reduce production costs in terms of water consumption, usage of fertilizers and chemicals).
Applications
- Treatment of irrigation water to eliminate pathogens.
- Recycling of process water after disinfecting wastewater with HOCL
- Disinfecting seeds, bulbs and potatoes prior to planting washing and disinfecting fruits after whilst harvesting
- Disinfecting storage premises and fogging harvested products to extent shelf life
- Reducing blockages of irrigations systems and nozzles due to Biofilm by adding HOCL into irrigation water
- Providing clean air in greenhouses and reduce decontamination of products.
- Treatment of mildew on leaves and grapes by fogging HOCL.
Benefits
- Increased yield.
- Longer shelf life.
- Reduction in production costs.
- Residue free product.
