The Agri-PV landscape in Croatia is undergoing important changes. SolarPower Europe spoke with Maja Pokrovac, Director of RES Croatia (Renewable Energy Sources of Croatia) about the recent Agrisolar developments in the country. What are the primary benefits of Agri-PV and how can these benefits be applied in the context of Croatia?

Today, Croatia received its first wine produced from grapes from vineyards treated with UV light instead of chemicals. The wine was produced by the winemaker Marko Duvančić, from Razvođe, and was presented to the public at a special ceremony in the farm "Pilipovi dvori" of Agrotourism Duvančić.

As one of the founders of the startup, Zvonimir Bešlić, explained in an interview with PoslovniFM, UVC light emitted by the sun, which the atmosphere prevents from reaching us in excessive amounts, has the property of physically destroying, i.e. sterilizing, bacteria, viruses, fungi and everything that is undesirable. The light actually breaks the halo that viruses and bacteria have and they are no longer able to reproduce...

A team was engaged in the development of technical solutions for the application of UV light in agriculture and tests of its real effectiveness, in which, in addition to the directors and founders of the company, Martin Krstić and Zvonimir Bešlić, Marko Duvančić, winegrower and winemaker from Razvođe near Oklaj, as the initiator and bearer of the development of this idea and a lecturer at the "Marko Marulić" Polytechnic in Knin, and Mike Kurelić Pulley, a wine grower, a top expert in the IT sector, and for the last fifteen years he has been working at Apple Europe in London for large clients....

The current methods of food production, which are based on the use of chemical agents in the protection of agricultural crops, vines, and fruits and vegetables, are unsustainable. The future of agriculture is the protection of crops and plantations with CO2-neutral, clean, environmentally friendly technologies that are harmless to human health. Food 4 People develops innovative technology to protect vineyards, orchards, gardens and crops from pests and diseases with environmentally friendly UV light instead of chemical means...

UV light has long been successfully used in medicine to sterilize operating rooms, laboratories and medical equipment. It is used and irreplaceable in pharmacy, chemical and food industry, greenhouse food production and similar activities", the entrepreneurs explain. Due to climate change, the traditional way we produce food has become unsustainable, as agriculture pollutes more and more due to the use of various protective agents.