Barcelona, Spain: AQUA4D, a leading Swiss company in water technology, and AgroBank, CaixaBank’s business line aimed at agribusiness, have signed a collaboration agreement. After passing several selection rounds of the technology acceleration program for the agricultural sector, co-created between CaixaBank and the European Innovation Council (EIC), AQUAD4D have now started a commercial pilot through AgroBank, seeking to increase sustainable and efficient approaches in the use of water in Spanish agriculture financed by CaixaBank.
Spain is facing huge pressures from droughts and land degradation, threatening the medium and long-term viability of agricultural production in the country. With this in mind, the EIC and AgroBank teamed up to find the most innovative and sustainable agro-tech solutions in Europe. An initial selection of 110 companies from 26 countries was reduced to a final 10, representing categories include precision farming, robotics & digitalization, and water & energy efficiency.
Given the existential importance of water to agribusiness in Spain, AQUA4D® technology was selected to represent the category of water & energy efficiency, recognizing AQUA4D’s capacity to save water while reducing energy and resource use in irrigation. The further upscaling of Precision Irrigation in Spain could save significant water in a region facing worrying droughts, at the same time as sustainably managing issues around saline water and soil salinity.
The first AgroBank-funded project was installed in mid-2023 in Murcia, with more expected to follow throughout the year.
Jaime Campos, Director of AgroBank: “For AgroBank it is a priority to support, through financing, those projects that allow farms to be more sustainable and innovative. It is also a solution to ensure the availability and use of water in our field, a very present issue in the sector due to the current problems of drought in Spain.”
Javier Meyer, CMO, AQUA4D: “The market potential, mainly in the need for advanced technology to bring sustainable solutions in water efficiency and salt management to Spanish agriculture, is enormous. Together with CaixaBank, we see an excellent fit to provide the necessary quality support and financing tools to farmers in the Iberian Peninsula”.
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About AgroBank:
AgroBank, the leading financial institution in the agri-food sector in Spain by branch presence and market share, with more than 500,000 agricultural customers, has been working for many years on a value proposition that reflects its commitment to the agri-food sector and the rural world from a financial, social and digitalization standpoint.
About AQUA4D:
Based in Valais, Switzerland, and active in 45+ countries worldwide, AQUA4D sustainably addresses persistent problems through innovative water treatment. In agriculture, this includes soil health and land regeneration while using less water, allowing producers to maximize outputs with minimal inputs.
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For more information:
Javier Meyer (Chief Marketing Officer)
Email: meyer@aqua4d.com
Javier Meyer introducing AQUA4D in Barcelona, August 2022
Spain
Water-Smart Agriculture
Precision Irrigation
AQUA4D was selected by the EIC with 10 other companies to bring innovative solutions to Spanish agriculture
“The market potential for advanced technology bringing water efficiency and salt management to Spanish agriculture is enormous. Together with CaixaBank, we see an excellent fit to provide the necessary quality support and financing tools to growers in the Iberian Peninsula”. – Javier Meyer, AQUA4D
AQUA4D’s Javier Meyer and Yvain Mirabal at CaixaBank in Barcelona