Arto Kujanpään Carousel farming, devised by Hortimill Oy founded by Hortimill Oy, is an automatic system that maximizes the efficiency of the use of the cultivated area. Kujanpäätä, who works as a teacher of technical work and a strawberry farmer, has wondered how in agriculture animal production is developed and automated at a rapid pace, while at the same time development in plant cultivation is stagnating and the necessary seedlings have to be imported from abroad. The idea of carousel farming has been brewing for years
- This is no utopia. In this system, things have been combined so that farming is more efficient and easier, says Kujanpää.
Kujanpää considers the self-sufficiency of Finnish food production to be important. He believes that the carousel cultivation innovation will change the industry so that seedling cultivation becomes even better possible in Finland.
- At the moment, seedlings and labor have to be imported from abroad, and seedling cultivation is in its infancy in Finland, says Kujanpää.
With the carousel cultivation system, it is possible to grow, for example, spices, salads and seedling production in a completely natural way, virtually from remote connections.
- The whole carousel can be protected with a net, so pesticides are not needed. So everything is completely organic, Kujanpää says.
The picking is robotic and the yield is multiple times compared to traditional farming. In the cultivation carousel, weather conditions also do not affect the harvest.
- Especially in the Nordic countries, it is essential to be able to combat frost in an excellent way, says Kujanpää.
At the moment, some parts of the machinery still have to be ordered from Europe. Domesticity is, however, a very important value for Hortimill Oy and eventually the aim is to make the system almost 100 % Finns.
Kujanpää is grateful for his close circle, which has all kinds of expertise that has helped in the development of the farming system. My posterity is also studying to be an engineer.
- I trust that posterity will bring new opportunities for this.
Initially, the carousel farming system has attracted a lot of interest and there have already been dozens of pre-orders.
- When presenting the system, many farmers have come to say how they have always dreamed of something like this, Kujanpää says.
Currently, the system is being developed at Ilmajoki and the aim is to bring it to the market as soon as possible.
Hortimill has received trial and establishment support from Liiver for the development of the innovation.