Turkish Farmers Deploy Solar-Powered Irrigation and Drone Spraying in Edirne
In the village of Şerbettar, within Havsa district of Edirne Province, local rice growers have installed a solar‑powered deep‑well irrigation system. The setup uses 160 solar panels that generate roughly 44.5 kW, powering a sub‑mersible pump that lifts water from 100 m underground to irrigate about 75 decares of rice fields, eliminating the need for grid electricity.
Farmer Şaban Akdeniz, who invested in the system about eight years ago, says the technology has fully amortised and that "we do not pay electricity bills". The solar‑energy solution also allows the farmers to become independent of costly or absent electricity supply. In addition to the solar‑driven irrigation, drones are employed to spray pesticides uniformly across the fields, saving time and labor.
Other local producers, such as Okan Fidan, note that the solar‑powered irrigation is financially profitable and helps compensate for the region’s irregular rainfall, stabilising rice yields despite drought conditions.
Entities: Edirne · Edirne Province · Havsa district · Okan Fidan · Solar-powered irrigation system · Turkey · Şaban Akdeniz · Şerbettar · Şerbettar village
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 3 SOURCES] The solar system allows irrigation without paying electricity bills. (All three articles)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Farmers in Şerbettar village, Havsa district, Edirne Province use a solar‑powered deep‑well system to irrigate rice fields. (All three articles)
- [● 3 SOURCES] The system consists of 160 solar panels that generate about 44,500 watts of power. (All three articles)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Farmer Şaban Akdeniz invested in the solar system about eight years ago and says the investment has fully amortized. (All three articles)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Drones are used to spray pesticides across the rice paddies, improving coverage and reducing labour. (All three articles)
- [● 3 SOURCES] The pump lifts water from a depth of 100 metres to irrigate approximately 75 decares of rice fields. (All three articles)
- [● 3 SOURCES] The solar‑powered irrigation reduces dependence on the electrical grid and mitigates the impact of drought on yields. (All three articles)
- [● 3 SOURCES] The farmers no longer pay electricity bills for irrigation because the system runs entirely on solar power. (new)
- [● 3 SOURCES] The system extracts groundwater from a depth of 100 metres using a submersible (diver) pump. (new)
- [● 3 SOURCES] The irrigation system uses 160 solar panels that generate about 44,500 watts of power. (new)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Drones are employed to spray pesticides over the irrigated rice fields. (new)
- [● 3 SOURCES] The investment in the solar irrigation system has fully amortised after about eight years. (new)