Inside the largest irrigated farm in the Americas
In this video, we'll explore one of the largest irrigated farms on the planet, the largest in the Americas. Yes, they feed much of the world.
This is the Santana farm, located in Luís Eduardo Magalhães, in the western region of Bahia, a city considered the capital of Matopiba, which encompasses parts of the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia.
Let's take a closer look at this farm, which is an example of environmental balance, sustainability, and high production.
The water collection system is powered by 16 giant pumps manufactured by the Brazilian multinational WEG. The water is pumped into a huge reservoir, which is distributed through numerous channels that carry water to the pivots.
As we know, water is cyclical. The water at the Santana Farm is crystal clear, so much so that thousands of fish of all sizes live in the place, which looks more like an aquarium. This is proof of the quality and purity of the water.
The farm's internal roads alone are estimated to be 200 kilometers long. This gives you an idea of the size of the property. The property owned by the Franciosi brothers is just one of the group's many farms.
We're here in the Santana Farm's pivot programming room.
Here are the pivots.
Here we have the pivots that are turned off in gray.
The ones in blue are the pivots that are irrigating.
This one is the pivot that just started; it's still on standby.
It will start rotating from the center of the pivot.
And there's the pivot in green.
That's in motion, without water.
Here on the screen you have the forward and backward controls.
You can change the pivot's direction.
With or without water.
What percentage of the field you will irrigate? 70... 50...
Here you have the number of millimeters and the number of hours/rotation.
To reach 100% of the pivot, it will take 31 hours and 40 minutes.
Here you have the on and off function.
It gives me a report every five minutes, showing how the pivot is running.
It gives me the report with the date and time.
Here you have Information on whether it's running or stopped.
Here's the direction, backward or forward.
Here's the dry pull.
Hour meter (wetting hours)
Pivot pressure.
The number of millimeters.
And the percentage the pivot is running.
And if there's a problem, like this one,
There's a safety warning, it stopped, and it points me here in front.
Then a technician goes over there to look.
Then we have the field work, six people, who will check.
Two during the day, two at night, and two...
This screen here shows the farm's water intake.
Which is the pump house.
Here are the 16 pumps.
And this image is live.
If an employee or anyone shows up, everything appears here.
The entrance is this one.
Now the most beautiful part isn't showing, which is the walkway.
Impressive.
Is this system American? Because everything here is in English...
Images and editing:
Ricardo Wegrzynovski
Multimedia Journalist
Digital Marketing
[email protected]