“New farmer dryers, which work with the help of bio-energy and solar energy, and which “snatch more energy” from sun, will give an opportunity to develop the agriculture in Armenia and will enable the export of dried fruits and vegetables. “, - assure the authors of innovative multifunctional devices, the candidates of technical sciences Gurgen Martirosyan and Stepan Khoyetsyan.

 

 

They presented the results of the production tests of solar dryers, during the discussion of the “Inventors Club” organized by the foundation "Noyan Tapan" , which is known for its support to the development of innovative technologies and prospective solutions.

According to S. Khoyetsyan  in Armenia there is no concerned approach towards solar energy using, although it is one of unique opportunities to ensure maximum profit in agriculture and in many other fields.

"The solar energy, in terms of perspective, has a serious demand in the world today: if we want to operate our factories, then we will face to the problems due to lack of sufficient energetic resources, while Armenia is one of few sunny countries and can effectively benefit from it, "he said.

According to the inventor, their modest equipment farmer can use for drying any type of product, it does not require additional expenses, it’s enough only to install the dryer to the specific location and it will be able to dry any product all year round.

Co-author of the invention Gurgen Martirosyan said, that the device itself is a space, and in it’s floor there are placed Obsidian stones, which are more heat, the surface is covered with polyethylene and is attached on wheels in order to move in the direction of the sun's rays: “This is a dehydrator device, which dries food with the help of solar energy and each food replaced in it become dehydrated and dried.” ,- he said, adding that as a result of their experiments, they gained natural food, which is significantly different from the food gained from other drying technologies. The device in addition to fruit and vegetable drying, may also give forage fertilizer, and even grow seedling. S. Khoyetsyan explained that solar dryers can also be cultivate grape , core, peel, which are an excellent forage. "With this, we have fed the animals and got wonderful results."  S. Khoyetsyan explained that solar dryers can also be cultivate grape core, peel, which are excellent forage. "With this, we have fed the animals and got wonderful results."

"We have about 30 kinds of product sample manufactured by this device, which are very important for agricultural development. Today in Armenian Republic there are approximately 200 thousand not used hectares of land, this problem can be solved with organic fertilizer, which we can get with the help of solar dryers. The fertilizer will nourish the soil and that will provide qualitative increase of product and also will give an opportunity for grass flour growing, which generally is not done now.”  said Khoyetsyan.

The speaker insisted that the equipment is not that expensive, it costs about $ 1,000, but without state assistance it will be difficult to convince farmers to purchase it, as the inventor’s work on the device should be paid, in order to make products and so after seeing it farmer would want to purchase it.

According to the inventors, they have repeatedly appealed to the Ministry of Agriculture, which annually allocates funds for the creation of new technologies. "We applied to the program, but no reply has been received so far."

Also they emphasize that the degree of such apathy is caused by clash of interests of the relevant bodies, as if their devices spread widely and begin to meet farmers' needs, it will affect fertilizer importers.

 

 

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