How the largest modern irrigation project in Bulgaria is being built

In early spring, NIK started the construction of the largest modern irrigation project in Bulgaria, in collaboration with the American leader in the production of irrigation systems Valley Irrigation.Irrigation facilities are built in North-West Bulgaria and arelength from 160 to 360 m,The entire project of12 pivotsthere is a total 54 watering shoulders. The pipe network that feeds the irrigation systems has a length of 25 km, as well as a pumping unit consisting of 4 pumps. The pumps are from the American manufacturer Cornell, which is a world leader in the production of specialized equipment for working under high loads with guaranteed reliability and efficiency. The design of the pivot systems and their water supply was carried out entirely by the NIK team, in accordance with the technical recommendations and best practices in the sector available to Valley, thanks to its many years of experience in the field.The total amount of waterthat Cornell pumps provide is 320 l/s. Thus, through the pivot systems in 5 days it will be possible to submit an irrigation rate of 30 cubic. m/haof the envisagedirrigation area of more than 3,000 acres. The irrigation rate is adjusted to the microclimate of the area, as well as the marginal field soil moisture and the intended crops for irrigation.In addition to the irrigation system, it is planned to use weather stations to track climate and soil moisturefor more precise irrigation and determination of the most suitable watering conditions. In this way it will controls the supply of the required irrigation rateand it will prevents waterlogging of the soil. This helps in the optimal development of crops, extracting the necessary nutrients from the soil as much as possible. Already at the initial stage of the project, it was done field measurement with GPS equipment from Trimble with GLONASS satellite signal and RTK signal with an accuracy of 2.5 cm. Land mapping involves determining the exact positions of centers of each of the 12 irrigation systems and determining the elevation of the fields and their displacement — data that allow more efficient use of available water resources.Construction and installation works were completed in a period of 3 weeks, and foreign specialists in the construction of pivot systems with experience throughout Europe were involved in the field work.In the first year, it is planned that the facilities will be used for Irrigation of corn, and in subsequent years there is an opportunity to use them for other irrigated crops such as sunflower, rapeseed, pea mixtures.

See how the construction of the pivot systems went: