Services for Agricolture

DARIN is one of the historical companies in the sector of agricultural machinery. Founded in 1920 is present in national and international markets and in the course of his business experience gained as to diversify its areas of intervention by the formation of turnkey projects starting from the holdings of availability of both private and public funding in different areas ranging horticulture flower growing farms of all types of livestock.

AREAS OF INTERVENTION:

HORTICULTURE: system design in the open field vegetable cultivation through ferti-irrigation system;

GREENHOUSE: planning, execution and delivery of glass greenhouses and plastic;

AEROPONICS: design and construction of plants for soilless cultivation. The Company is a licensee of a patent for growing vegetables and flowers in the greenhouse with the method Aeroponic.
The aeroponics is a more advanced stage of soilless hydroponic cultivation. Aeroponics cultivation in this case is different from other crops because soil-plant roots are completely in the air and not submerged in water or substrates. The nutrient solutions used are full closed-loop reaching a water saving of 90% and a reduction of pesticide treatments by 75%;

FRUIT: design and construction of advanced cultivars of fruit and even exotic varieties;

EXTENSIVE CULTURE: agronomic and technical assistance;

FARMING: design and construction of facilities for sheep farming, cattle and goats;

INTERNATIONALIZATION: we are present in international markets for a long time so we have gained knowledge in the world of research and technology to transfer anywhere;

MARKETING: For every project we can provide the commercial markets and products;

FUNDING: In the design phase we can make financial plans to raise funds both public and private for the implementation of projects

The term “AEROPONIC” is used to define growing systems that do not make use of any type of substrate. The plants are supported by elements called “plant carriers”, only the roots are in contact with water and the plants are sprayed with a nutrient fog containing the macro and micro elements naturally present in earth and necessary for optimal development of the plants.

The Italian inventor Giancarlo Costa has patented its FAN DRIP SYSTEM Aeroponic system which is able, at the same time, to optimize the advantages of soiless cultivations and to resolve their limitations, obtaining an extraordinary ratio of costs to benefits. Its unique closed cycle system increases the economic value of this production system, making it the leader in the field of environmental safeguard. This system recycles nutrient solution: after atomization, the solution not absorbed by plants is drained back to the mixing tank, and sent into circulation again. Further to bringing great water savings, the "closed cycle" conforms to existing EEC environmental regulations that prohibit the release of polluted chemical agents into the ground, and it satisfies the Fan Drip System attention of government and public opinion toward water resource problems.

The absence of earth or any other substrate drastically reduces asphyxia and pathologies linked to the root apparatus. The high level of root aeration and the perfect management of the irrigation shifts make the plant-root system unsuitable for the development of fungus pathologies and the formation of weeds. This brings a reduction of plant protection product treatments. Further to these advantages, we can add the absence of waste products, for which disposal is often difficult and very expensive (e.g. rock wool).

To apply in an optimal way the results obtained from studies carried out in “closed cycle conditions”, a structure has been developed to maximize the production yield and quality: THE TRAY. It is a PVC structure having a variable length according to specific needs. PVC is an indestructible material, which is purchased only once and does not need any type of maintenance, except for normal cleaning operations at the end of the cultivation cycle. Even if the green house is dismantled, the material can be given to specialized companies for reuse. The nutrient solution is pumped from the mixing tank and sprayed onto the roots by the passage through a tube with nozzles that starts at the head of the tray and proceeds to the other end of the tray. Here a discharge device connected to a drain pipe takes the solution back to the mixing tank, therefore realizing the “closed cycle”. Expanded polystyrene panels with drilled holes cover the tray; a white/black plastic sheath covers the panels, with cuts through which to place the plants with nude roots. To always guarantee maximum efficiency, the nutrient solution can be integrated according to the needs and growth stage of the plants. The possibility to add various nutrients enables better organoleptical quality of the fruits and therefore offers to the consumer a more delicious product of superior consistency. Only when the solution is exhausted is it necessary to use a new solution. This system realizes a series of advantages for the producer who pays attention to market changes and to the need to offer a product with the best commercial and organoleptical characteristics. The producer cannot leave these advantages out of consideration.

There is a farming technique, somewhat similar to Aeroponic technique, which has been used for more than one century that is, hydroponics. By using this technique, all functions normally carried out by soil – as bearing, water and nutritive supply – are here substituted by an artificial substratum and by a nutritive solution that grants water and mineral salts supply. But this system has turned out as having environmental, economical and logistical limits:

- Environmental limits: the use of disposable nutritive solutions gives rise to two kinds of environmental damage: on one hand the release of percolate, which still contains quite high levels of polluting chemicals; on the other hand a substantial waste of water.

- To make an example, in the case of tomato farming the release in the ground of the unused nutritive solutions – which are not re-used in the production cycle - amounts to 300 or up to 500 l/m² ; this quantity is the same used for a 7-10 t/ha/year fertilization. This causes dangerous quantities of chemicals, as nitrogen for instance, to gather in the ground and pollute water tables. Other troublesome factors are root putrefaction due to lack of oxygen, and algae formation.

- Furthermore, hydroponic system still needs the use of chemical treatments, given the high humidity of its environment and the pathologies easily arising in it. Finally, another problem is the disposal of plant bearings, particularly of rochwool which is very costly to dispose of.

- Economical limits: currently used hydroponic systems imply a substantial waste of farming land (unproductive parts) as much as the 40-50% of the total land surface greenhouse; this limit should be added to the already high costs of starting and managing this kind of system.

- Logisitical limits: hydroponic system generates a complex degree of “competition” between plant bearings and the mineral salts used in nutritive solutions; the former exceedingly retains the latter, thus unbalancing the nutritive supply and complicating the whole farming cycle. Other troublesome factors are root putrefaction due to lack of oxygen, and algae formation.