January 12, 2022

By Michelle Pelletier Marshall, Global AgInvesting Media

In this new GAI News feature, Three Questions With…, we provide a “quick view” into innovative agtech companies and startups working to change the trajectory of agricultural production in an effort to feed the growing global population in ground-breaking and innovative ways. Today, we highlight AQUA4D® of Switzerland.

Since its founding in 2004, AQUA4D® has served industries – including animal health, precision irrigation, and sustainable buildings – in over 40 countries with its efficient water technology with invariably positive effects: greater productivity, resource efficiency, and sustainability. Their solutions help reduce watering times, increase penetration, and increase overall yields and crop productivity. They have worked with coffee farmers in Brazil, cyclamen growers in France, and various nut orchard owners in California, providing their game-changing Swiss technology for optimized irrigation.

Working to assist producers to grow more with fewer resources – especially important since 70 percent of the world’s freshwater resources are consumed by the agricultural industry – their innovative system uses subtle resonance fields emitted into water, providing improvement of soil water retention, which enables better absorption of nutrients and water, and ultimately, better plant growth and quality.

GAI News asked CEO Eric Valette to respond to our three questions:

1). Tell us about your company. 

Based in Switzerland and active across the world, AQUA4D® has developed a sustainable and scalable water-smart technology based on 20 years of in-house R&D. We currently have 5,000 global installations, including an ever-growing number in California, where we are solving a range of water efficiency and soil health issues. In the U.S. we are collaborating with major farmland investors who consider AQUA4D® as excellent added value, both for persistent irrigation issues and sustainable commitments for the years ahead.

2). Tell us about your technology and what changes it will bring about.

AQUA4D® is a sustainable solution that simultaneously addresses the most pressing problems facing agriculture: water scarcity and land degradation. Our Precision Irrigation helps achieve higher yields (+15 percent on average) using less resources (-25 percent less water on average), while helping soil restoration and a regenerative approach to agriculture. The size of water clusters is reduced, meaning soils stay moist for longer, while minerals and fertilizers within the water are efficiently dissolved so that they are easily absorbed by the plants, and excess salt no longer poses a problem.

3). Tell us why the GAI investment and agribusiness audience should be interested.

Plainly put, we have proven ourselves over the years as the most efficient and sustainable water treatment on the market. This is a technology that solves salinity issues while saving water in the process, and does so without using any chemicals and without changing the chemical composition of the water. Also, and importantly, there are no waste products, and growers can continue using the same water without harming their crops and land. Lastly, the increased efficiencies we bring about are proven to increase productivity and ultimately profits, meaning growers are now truly able to do more with less, and get the most out of every drop.

Michelle Pelletier Marshall is contributing editor and author for HighQuest Partners’ GAI News and Oilseed & Grain News, and managing editor for its WIA Today blog. Additionally, she is the company’s Senior PR/Media Manager. She can be reached at marshall@highquestpartners.com.

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