Agri Terra Greenhouse: A Paraguay Inspection Tour

The greenhouse structure.  Note the weather station antenna on the third nave peak.

Most of my blog posts are topical, but this week I’m writing about my inspection tour of the greenhouse that my wife and I own outside of Nueva Italia, Paraguay.  We bought in early 2020 and after some Covid-related shipping delays, our greenhouse arrived and our tomatoes were planted on February 18 of this year. 

It was an amazing trip and the German-based management company Agri Terra is doing a tremendous job of delivering for their investors.  You can read more about their investment opportunities Here and Here.

When we purchased, we didn’t know precisely what would be planted in our vegetable greenhouse since the company grows peppers, cucumbers and a variety of tomatoes.  Ours turned out to be tomatoes and I was awestruck by the overall operation.

Proud “farmer” inspecting his crop.

Like many hydroponic set-ups, the vegetable plants are grown in a shredded coconut husk medium.  The irrigation system provides both the water and just the right balance of nutrients. 

A system of fans, retractable overhead covers and sidewalls that can be dropped in times of high wind help maintain the perfect growing environment.  A miniature weather station atop each greenhouse along with sensors inside feed data into the automated system.  

Each greenhouse is 1,250 square meters. The greenhouses have weather stations that feed data into the controllers, which then open and close vents, and influence the irrigation frequency.

Theoretically, the greenhouses could be left unattended for quite some time and the control system would keep dosing each plant with the water and fertilizer solution, the proper temperature will be maintained and the plants will keep growing.  Of course, that would never happen, but the way the system works a lot of the growing tasks are completely automated. 

The plants are grown from seed, which are currently sourced from the outside but they have an R&D section that is working on perfecting their own process of growing new seedlings so the end-to-end process will eventually be in-house.

The fertigation plant. Each variety of plant has its own mix of natural fertilizers that are automatically fed into the drip system.

Once the seedlings are planted in the greenhouse growing medium, they are trained to grow vertically by being attached to support cables using plastic clips.  The plants are pruned weekly, pulled up and attached to the cable trellis system and, since flowering is unpredictable, the plants are pollinated daily.

I was naturally excited to see my first crop but I also picked up a lot of information along the way that just confirmed this is one of the best agricultural purchases I have made. 

In addition to being able to see the greenhouse complex and related facilities, I was able to spend some time with Carsten Pfau, the president of the company, and one of their senior agronomists.  Very impressive.  Carsten not only provided big picture context to the company’s mission but Christian, the agronomist, was able to give very detailed answers regarding the technology involved and the growing process.

The morning’s harvest from the day I arrived.

Agri Terra not only operates the greenhouses, they also have lime, lemon, mandarin and orange groves.  We didn’t spend as much time in the citrus groves but the trees we saw were healthy, properly pruned and had just recently been harvested. 

These trees were about three years old so the harvest isn’t yet marketable because the fruit isn’t yet of retail quality; that comes in the fourth and fifth years when the Brix level (a test of sweetness used in the produce industry) has risen sufficiently.  I found that explanation interesting since I planted an orange tree in my backyard last year which produced a single piece of fruit.  It was OK, but wasn’t as sweet as I had hoped.  Now I know why; sweetness and overall quality improve as the trees age.

These tomatoes were planted in a different greenhouse about four weeks before mine.

The company recently bought a juicing plant and a water company with the intention of producing a line of sports drinks in addition to juiced citrus products.  They are currently selling strawberry greenhouses but are focused on completing the vegetable greenhouses first.  Orange groves are available for investors and other citrus may be available in the future depending on market demand.

They are also building a new processing plant right next to the greenhouses and will have the ability to do fruit purees in septic plastic containers as well as individually quick frozen (IQF) products, both of which have a long shelf life and can be exported.

Agri Terra tomatoes are sold at their Granja Direct stores. The conversion when I was there was 6,800 Guaraní to the dollar. So these tomatoes are selling for $2.57 per kilo or about $1.17 per pound.

If that weren’t enough, they have started a line of small grocery stores that focus on high-quality produce.  There are currently three Granja Direct stores, which are being used to test marketing and sales techniques before expanding further.  This cautious-growth approach to the company’s long-term plans impressed me. 

I asked Carsten if there were plans to offer new products after the strawberry greenhouses are built and he said he didn’t know; he wants to complete all the greenhouses, build the processing plant and expand the juicing operation before expanding further.  He was quite insistent that he needed to stabilize the current projects in the pipeline before moving on to the next ones and that his plans need to be fluid based on what he learns from bringing his current plans to fruition.

his is in a greenhouse planted about 4 weeks before ours. The plants are pollinated daily, trimmed weekly and attached to the cable supports.

Part of my reason for buying into the Agri Terra project is the fact that all the financial transactions are completed via German banks and the contracts are written in accordance with EU law.  In other words, as an owner, you have a business relationship with a German company; if things go sideways, you’ll be dealing with a German court, not one in Paraguay.

Part of what made this trip so much fun was the amazing people I traveled with, both investors and those who are thinking about investing.  It was quite the international group including folks from Finland, Italy, Australia, the U.S., Bolivia and Columbia.  Each person had questions and I learned a lot from the different perspectives and experiences of my travel companions. 

Content label on the greenhouse.

The vegetable greenhouses are sold out and there are only a dozen or so of the new strawberry greenhouses still available, so if you’re interested, you’ll need to act fast.  They seem to have plenty of orange groves for sale.  For more information, click HERE.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

My company, Alternative Ag Investors, sells managed farmland and represents Simply Natural Farms and Paraguay AG Invest in addition to Teak Hardwoods and Agro Nosotros (coffee and cacao investments).