During our time at the tenth edition of SIAM, we were able to see for ourselves the amazing potential offered by Morocco in terms of agriculture. There is plenty of sun, the land is fertile and, with the right irrigation, excellent and abundant harvests of high-quality agricultural produce can be obtained. However, we also realised that water is being managed incorrectly and the same errors are being made that have been made in the past in Italy, Spain and other parts of the world. Too much water is being used too quickly, causing a dramatic drop in the water table. In the south for example, in the area of Agadir, wells were 20 or 30 metres deep a few years ago, but now they need to go down more than 110 metres! The government passes good laws and takes appropriate action, for example funding drip systems, but illegal wells are still made, sprinkler systems are still used and water wastage continues despite the good policies.

In the first few days of the exhibition farmers visited our stand asking if our solar pumps could achieve flow rates of 25,000 or 30,000 litres per hour. We told them that technically it was possible and we would work on it. However, on reflection we have decided not to. We do not want to be party to the depletion of water resources in Morocco or other countries. We do not want to work for the agricultural industry, our clients are the 500 million small farmers counted by FAO, who feed more than half of the human race. They are the ones we work for, as well as the residents of villages and towns without electricity where water is needed for drinking, washing and irrigating small vegetable gardens. Our clientele will be defined by the small size and limited performance of our NS1, bearing in mind that 3,000 or 5,000 litres per hour are more than enough for a small farmer or village.