February 15, 2025

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Cultivating innovative techniques f… – Information Centre – Research & Innovation

An EU-funded challenge promoted the trade, screen and transfer of impressive fertigation systems which merge fertilisation with irrigation. This tactic will assistance farmers to use restricted h2o assets a lot more sustainably when reducing destructive nutrient losses to the surroundings.


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© Floki #88779044, source:inventory.adobe.com 2020

Fertigation describes the injection of fertilisers and other h2o-soluble merchandise into crop-irrigation methods. Rewards for farmers and other horticulturists include saving h2o, revenue and labour, a lot more accurate fertiliser software, and reduced nutrient losses.

Even so, in European international locations, the cultivation of fertigated crops is nevertheless constrained by h2o shortage, when intensive cultivation poses threats to h2o excellent. Even though impressive systems are out there to improve fertigation, there is a deficiency of recognition concerning these simple options and they are nevertheless not commonly executed at farm level.

The EU-funded FERTINNOWA challenge set out to cure the circumstances by making a knowledge base on impressive systems and tactics for fertigation. ‘Through the challenge, we preferred to map the troubles faced and the solutions out there, and then to trade facts and options,’ says challenge coordinator Els Berckmoes of the Investigate Centre for Vegetable Output (PSKW) in Belgium.

Vital challenge effects provided a benchmark study of farmers and publication of the ‘Fertigation Bible’, when the FERTINNOWA thematic network has enabled the transfer of several impressive systems and best tactics.

Groundwork

The challenge crew interviewed more than 370 farmers, in nine EU Member States and South Africa, representative of many horticultural sectors in diverse local weather zones. Aside from offering an overview of the troubles faced and the options remaining executed, it also gauged farmers’ knowledge about impressive or alternate options and the barriers avoiding their implementation.

One particular key concentration was on making a database of impressive systems and tactics for fertigation in horticultural crops.
From this, the FERTINNOWA crew made factsheets for increasing fertigation within, for case in point, fruit, vegetable and decorative manufacturing methods. All the facts gathered by the challenge was compiled into an formidable report referred to as the Fertigation Bible.

‘The Fertigation Bible has grow to be a compendium of 130 systems that are explained from a technological, simple, authorized and socio-financial level of see,’ explains Berckmoes. ‘Since the release of this compendium in April 2018, it has been downloaded one 900 situations. During our function, we exchanged 28 systems from 1 husband or wife or area to yet another, 11 of which have been determined as extremely impressive,’ she continues.

The systems promoted by the challenge include remote sensing of crop variability for successful soil and h2o management, a design for the prediction of irrigation merged with the use of humidity-information detection probes, and a decision-support process for computerized irrigation management.

All 28 systems have been demonstrated less than typical subject problems to exhibit farmers their opportunity. ‘We noticed that even ‘non-innovative’ or much less-impressive options could have a sizeable profit in some areas and we succeeded in boosting the interest of area farmers in these systems,’ Berckmoes says.

Circulation of facts

FERTINNOWA has also experienced beneficial social and financial impacts on farms and throughout areas, according to Berckmoes. The agricultural sector is 1 of the premier people of h2o and 1 of the major polluters in conditions of nitrate emissions. The challenge dealt with these worries by selling systems that support a a lot more economical and affordable use of h2o and minimize environmental impacts, therefore helping to accomplish the key aims of both the EU Drinking water Framework Directive and the Nitrates Directive.

A crucial variable in the project’s success was the shut collaboration in between diverse associates. Utilizing an integrated multi-actor tactic, the FERTINNOWA knowledge-trade system associated researchers, growers, policymakers, marketplace, and environmental and shopper groups.

On top of that, the crew made an successful design for transferring systems to farmers, which can be replicated around the world. For case in point, the Fertigation Bible is remaining translated into Mandarin to serve the Chinese agricultural sector.
‘For a lot of associates associated in the challenge, the FERTINNOWA initiative was a bridge to new opportunities and at times the very first steps in even more European assignments,’ concludes Berckmoes. The challenge outcomes are now commonly utilised to assistance farmers and area and nationwide authorities to clear up their fertigation troubles, while authorities dealing with fertilisation plan, h2o shortage, droughts and local weather adaptation are also benefitting from the outcomes.