São Paulo – Irriger, an irrigation management and engineering company based in the state of Minas Gerais, is developing projects in Sudan. The company has designed an irrigation system for an area of 25,000 hectares, where grain and forage are grown, in the country’s Northern State, and the other concerns linear pivot irrigation covering 4,350 hectares in the Rahad region, for sugar and ethanol manufacturing company Kenana.
The information was supplied by the Irriger’s regional manager in Sudan, Wulf Schmidt. Irriger operates in water management services, system gauging, irrigation projects, and monitoring of energy bills for farmers. The company does not build its projects, it only designs them and monitors their implementation. In the case of Sudan, business was kicked off after the board of directors of Irriger travelled to the country by invitation of the then-governor of Khartoum, Ismail Abd Elhalim Elmotafi, in March 2008.
Elmotafi, who is now the minister of Agriculture of the Arab country, had contacts with a foreign trade representative through whom he reached Irriger. In September of that same year, the Brazilian consultancy firm started developing its first project in Sudan, at Abu Hamad, in the north of the country. The area, a desert, is owned by the government, but is in a lease of sorts to investors for farming, in exchange for crop development. It was meant to be planted with cane, but ended up with grain and forage. The irrigation system project, however, was commissioned by the government.
The second project is underway and involves replacing the pumping systems at 195 stations, with flooding irrigation, in the Northern State. The diesel engines will be replaced with electric ones. The area, owned by farmers, has grain crops such as soy and wheat, and vegetables. The contract for designing the project was signed with the Sudanese government in October 2009. The first phase, involving the development of 110 projects, has already been concluded, according to Schmidt.
Irriger is also in the final stages of developing a pilot project for the Kenana Sugar Company, in an area of 4,350 hectares. The company is a joint venture and the irrigation system in the area, destined for food production, will be of the linear pivot type. In this case, Irriger will also manage the irrigation process and control the amount of water used. In addition to this one, the company is negotiating a contract with another sugar plant, is considering developing projects in Algeria and Oman, and has submitted bids for tenders in Venezuela and in Angola.
Owner of technology
Irriger is headquartered in Viçosa, in the state of Minas Gerais, has an engineering development office in Goiânia, in the state of Goiás, and regional management offices in Luís Eduardo Magalhães, in the state of Bahia, Patrocínio, in the state of Minas, and Cristalina, in Goiás. It also has specific offices for supporting its projects. The company has approximately 60 employees and emerged, roughly 20 years ago, at an incubator in the Federal University of Viçosa, linked tot eh sale of irrigation software. In 2005, however, it became an independent company.
Schmidt explains that five years ago, Irriger was developing projects for 10,000-hectare areas. Now it works in 100,000-hectare ones. In Brazil, says the manager, the company leads the irrigation management, or water control segment. One of its main differentials is monitoring of energy bills for farmers, aiming to cut costs.
Although he spends time in Brazil, Schmidt works in Sudan. In the Arab country, he claims to have found a much different reality than the one presented by international media, especially regarding the conflicts, and welcoming people. “The people are extremely hospitable,” he says. The Muslim region in the country is not too restrictive, he claims, and women, for instance, are allowed to work and study. “Of course, just as in Brazil, some families are more conservative than others,” he explains.
Contact
Irriger
Telephone: (+55 31) 3891-6440
Site: www.irriger.com.br
E-mail: irriger@irriger.com.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
