TOP 10 Irrigation Equipment Producers in Ukraine in 1H 2021

Sprinkler machines under the brand Variant Irrigation are produced by the Ukrainian company Variant Agro Build (VAB). Over the past year, it has significantly strengthened its position on the market. After the merger of its grain elevator business with KMZ Industries, Variant Agro Build switched its focus to the production of Variant Irrigation equipment.

In this business, the company is one of the youngest players in the irrigation systems market, yet it has already managed to gain a leading position in this ranking.

Besides manufacturing, the company provides a range of services for installation and maintenance of sprinkler equipment, completing turnkey projects.

The company produces sprinklers of all existing types — pivot, linear, hippodrome, 2-wing. In 2022, the manufacturer will start supplying drum machines to the market. Software products are regularly updated and upgraded, for example, the remote control system for pivot machines. Such a system for linear machines is being developed.

More than 100 agricultural companies in Ukraine are the customers of Variant Irrigation. 40% of the produced equipment is exported to Europe and CIS countries.

Since 2018, equipment manufactured by Variant Agro Build is included in the List of Ukrainian machinery and equipment for the agro-industrial complex, the cost of which is partially compensated by the state budget.

Related: Irrigation in Hors-AGRO Fields: Idea Evolution Into 19 Machines a Year

Valley irrigation systems are manufactured by the U.S. company Valmont. Today no other multinational company supplies more sprinkler machines to Ukraine than Valley. At the same time, Valley is historically a trendsetter in the segment of pivot irrigation machines. It was under the Valley brand that the first automatic pivot irrigation machines were presented on the world market.

The history of the brand itself is also remarkable. Valley was incorporated in 1946 in Nebraska, but originally it specialized in the production of grain elevators. 1954 was a milestone year for the company when another company, Valmont, was established and the first prototype of a pivot sprinkler was constructed.

Today both fixed and towed pivot irrigation systems are presented in the Ukrainian market under the brand Valley. Valley Corner is a type of fixed pivot irrigation machines allowing to cover the corners of a rectangular field, which are not accessible to conventional pivot machines. Towed Valley machines irrigate fields from 1 hectare up to 288 hectares.

Valley systems have a wide range of characteristics: their performance ranges from 6 to 220 hp, clearance — from 1 m to 5 m, length — up to 850 m.

However, the Valley product line is not limited to pivot machines. The U.S. company also manufactures linear machines.

On the Ukrainian market, Valley machines are offered by several dealers. In particular, the company ABA Astra.

The plant Fregat is one of the old stagers of Ukrainian sprinkler manufacturing. It produced its first sprinkler machines almost half a century ago. There were times when the number of Fregat machines in Ukrainian fields was in the thousands or even tens of thousands — in total, the plant has produced about 50 thou. irrigation systems. In 2003, for example, of 4.7 thou. sprinkler machines operated at the time in Ukraine, about 3 thou. was by Fregat. Since then, the number of the plant's old units still operational has certainly decreased but still remains high.

Modern Fregat is a completely different company. Currently, the plant produces two types of sprinklers: VSM(Versatile sprinkler machine) Fregat — hydraulically driven, and TSM(Truss sprinkler machine) Fregat — truss wide-cut machines with electric drive. However, the plant considers hydraulic machines as 'extinct species' and relies on TSM Fregat, which have been produced since 2010. These units can be controlled remotely — in partnership with scientists from the Institute of Water Problems and Land Reclamation of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine (NAAS), the plant has developed a system FregatSmart. In August, Minister of Agrarian Policy Roman Leshchenko personally launched the first TSM Fregat equipped with this system.

By and large, the irrigation systems that the plant produces today virtually mirror the foreign brands.

In recent years, Fregat has enjoyed rapid growth. According to the company's CEO Artur Kheruvimov, two years ago the plant produced 35 spans per month, but today the monthly production capacity of Fregat is 80 spans. The plant's production capacity is measured in spans, since the length of the machine can vary from 40 m to 1000 m. According to Artur Kheruvimov, Fregat's target for 2021 is 800 spans. The plant supplies its machines not only to the Ukrainian market but also to foreign markets. Last year, the first-ever delivery was made to Poland. There are also plans to export machinery to Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, and Uzbekistan.

In Ukraine, the company markets its products without intermediaries.

Zimmatic sprinklers are manufactured by the U.S.-based Lindsay Corporation. Today it is one of the largest manufacturers of irrigation systems in the U.S. and the world. Lindsay is next to Valley not only in our ranking but also in history. It also originates from Nebraska, which is not surprising given that the American explorer Stephen H. Long termed that territory The Great American Desert in the early 19 century. The company was also founded more than 65 years ago, just a year later than Valmont, in 1955. It specializes in other areas besides sprinkler machinery, as well.

In Ukraine, several companies offer Zimmatic sprinkling machines. In particular, RDO Ukraine, NPP Irrigation Systems, Agristar, Landtech, Agrosem. Zimmatic brand machinery is represented in all regions of Ukraine.

Like other manufacturers, Zimmatic covers the entire range of sprinklers: fixed and towed pivot machines as well as linear systems. Currently, the flagship range of Zimmatic is 9500: Zimmatic 9500P fixed pivot and linear machines, Zimmatic 9500PL — pivoting lateral irrigation system (towed).