Water Use

The avocado industry has, at times, been on the receiving end of criticism due to the high amounts of water needed to produce avocados. As the climate in which avocados thrive comes with drought conditions, the high volumes of water required for the avocado production can pose issues. Chile,…

As early as in 1951, Genap BV recognised the importance of storing water in earth dams. "At our first facility in Westzaan, we started manufacturing prefabricated geomembranes used for lining earth dams to hold rainwater. The collected rainwater would then be used as irrigation water for greenhouses,"…

Greenhouse industry has been rapidly expanded worldwide. An accurate partitioning evapotranspiration (ET) into transpiration (T r) and evaporation (E s) is critical for developing precise irrigation scheduling and enhancing water productivity in greenhouses. In a new research, a team proposed a modified…

The spatial distribution of root systems in the soil has major impacts on soil water and nutrient uptake and ultimately crop yield. This research aimed to optimize the root distribution patterns, growth, and yield of cherry tomato by using a number of emitters per plant. A randomized complete block design technique was adopted by selecting eight treatments with two irrigation regimes and four levels of emitters under greenhouse conditions. The experiment results showed that the root distribution extended over the entire pot horizontally and shifted vertically upwards with increased emitter density. The deficit irrigation resulted in reduced horizontal root extension and shifted the root concentrations deeper. Notably, tomato plants with two emitters per plant and deficit irrigation treatment showed an optimal root distribution compared to the other treatments, showing wider and deeper dispersion measurements and higher root length density and root weight density through the soil with the highest benefit–cost ratio (1.3 and 1.1 cm cm−3, 89.8 and 77.7 µg cm−3, and 4.20 and 4.24 during spring–summer and fall-winter cropping seasons, respectively).

This research shows that Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) are an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional fish production methods and enable fish breeders to significantly reduce the nutrient loads on adjacent water bodies due to production. Therefore, RAS can be seen as an important…

Research by A. Richa, S. Touil and M. Fizir highlights the recent developments in the treatment of hydroponic wastewater. The rapid development of hydroponic farming produces a large amount of wastewater rich in nutrients and organic matters thus imposes great harm to humans and the environment if the…

The sustainable development of agricultural systems where nutrients and water are recycled to a high degree is of enormous importance. Traditional aquaponics, where fish and plants are cultivated in one recirculating system, addresses these ecological challenges, but still struggles with its economical…

More than 3 billion people live in agricultural areas with high to very high levels of water shortages and scarcity, and freshwater resources per person have declined by more than 20 percent over the past two decades, FAO's SOFA 2020 report says.

Conventional #agriculture uses a staggering 70% of our #water supply and produces 30% of our #CarbonEmissions. #IndoorFarming uses 92% less #water and produces 67-92% less carbon. If we are to curb #climatechange before it’s too late, things need to change.

In the driest state in the driest continent in the world, South Australian farmers are acutely aware of the impact of water shortages and drought. So, when it comes to irrigation, knowing which method works best is vital for sustainable crop development. Now, new research from the University of South…

500Foods shared this story from HD.com. A new type of soil created by engineers at The University of Texas at Austin can pull water from the air and distribute it to plants, potentially expanding the map of farmable land around the globe to previously inhospitable places and reducing water use in agriculture at a time of growing droughts. As published…

With the lingering after-effects of a crippling drought, and the National Water and Sanitation Master Plan likely to kick in next year, it was time that all stakeholders in South African agriculture started taking responsibility for their role in protecting the country’s scarce freshwater resources.

This was according to water conservation and water law experts, who were speaking during Nedbank’s webinar, ‘The future of water in South Africa’s agricultural sector’, held on Tuesday, 3 November.

Shelly Fuller, programme manager of sustainable fruit and wine projects at Worldwide Fund for Nature South Africa, said agriculture used the largest proportion of South Africa’s surface and groundwater resources.

While the sector made vital contributions to the country’s economy and society, it had to proactively implement meaningful actions to conserve water for its own long-term sustainability, and for the future needs of the rest of the country.

In the driest state in the driest continent in the world, South Australian farmers are acutely aware of the impact of water shortages and drought. So, when it comes to irrigation, knowing which method works best is vital for sustainable crop development. Now, new research from the University of South…

Root morphology and its components’ behavior could show a considerable response under multiple water application points per plant to help the ultimate effect of fruit yield and fruit quality. In this study, a comparison of a single emitter per plant was made with two, three, and four emitters per plant under drip irrigation and two irrigation levels (full irrigation 100% and deficit irrigation 75% of crop evapotranspiration) to investigate their effects on physiological parameters, root, yield, and their associated components for potted cherry tomato under greenhouse conditions in Jiangsu-China. The experimental results showed that the plants cultivated in the spring-summer planting season showed significantly higher results than the fall-winter planting season due to low temperatures in the fall-winter planting season. However, the response root length, root average diameter, root dry mass, leaf area index, photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, fruit unit fresh weight, the number of fruits, and pH were increased by multiple emitters per plant over a single emitter per plant, but total soluble solids decreased. Besides, a decreasing trend was observed by deficit irrigation for both planting seasons, and vice versa for the case for tomato total soluble solids.

On October 15, the University of Almería has presented its new R + D + i project, carried out in partnership with the company NaanDanJain Ibérica. The objective is to develop highly applied solutions in the field of intensive Mediterranean agriculture. The project, entitled 'Experimental evaluation of…

Patrick van der Voort has been working as a cultivation specialist at Beekenkamp Plants ‘s Gravenzande location for 3 years now. Built in 2017 the site specializes in fruit vegetable production. “Getting to work at this location was a great challenge for me; a new greenhouse with modern facilities, a…

The floating tarpaulins used in Dutch water silos are sufficient for now. However, there's a growing demand for steel roofs for these silos. Bas van der Elst of Hendic, says, "Steel is solid. It can take a beating. Then storms aren't a problem. And if there's a lot of snow, also, no problem." Wind and…

Mediterranean areas with intensive agriculture are characterized by high salinity of groundwater. The use of this water in hydroponic cultivations can lead to nutrient solutions with an electrical conductivity that overcomes the tolerance threshold of many vegetable species. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) were shown to minimize salt stress on several vegetable crops but the studies on the application of PGPR on leafy vegetables grown in hydroponics are rather limited and have not been used under salt stress conditions. This study aimed to evaluate the use of plant growth-promoting bacteria to increase the salt tolerance of leaf lettuce grown in autumn and spring in a floating system, by adding a bacterial biostimulant (1.5 g L−1 of TNC BactorrS13 a commercial biostimulant containing 1.3 × 108 CFU g−1 of Bacillus spp.) to mineral nutrient solutions (MNS) with two salinity levels (0 and 20 mM NaCl). Leaf lettuce plants showed a significant reduction of growth and yield under salt stress, determined by the reduction of biomass, leaf number, and leaf area. Plants showed to be more tolerant to salinity in autumn than in spring.

500Foods shared this story from FP.com. The Salvemos el Arabí y Comarca Platform has denounced the abandonment of millions of melons and watermelons on two farms in the municipality of Yecla, Murcia. 4 million Yellow and Galia melons cultivated this season in nearly 130 hectares of a farm located in the Umbria del Factor were abandoned there.…

Hort Americas is currently working on a germination and propagation project of leafy greens and culinary herbs. The project is in collaboration with their demonstration greenhouse partners, The State Fair of Texas and the Big Tex Urban Farms. Big Tex Urban farms provide the labor needed to grow […]

This biostimulant improves the plants' ability to absorb and retain water, both in cases of scarcity and in optimal conditions. Strawberry field before applying Talete Strawberry field after applying Talete The photographs, taken on 05/18/2020, show that there is no difference between the areas irrigated at…

Automated Produce Equipment (APE) has announced a partnership with AquaHD for the purpose of supplying cutting-edge water processing technology.

Many packhouses are looking to decrease water usage and reduce wastewater tariff costs through the reuse of process-water. When attempting to handle these water streams, solids separation becomes the main challenge in the treatment process. AquaHD’s products fit these needs with hydrodynamic separators, static screen filters and rotary drum screens to filter all types of particles and solids.

APE newly updated and redesigned website features produce machinery and packaging solutions nationwide including AquaHD’s innovative products.

Irrigation is an important tool that likely has been used in agriculture for about as long as humans have been cultivating plants, but just how much water is enough?

Researchers from the Clemson University Edisto Research and Education Center (REC) are working on projects they believe will help South Carolina farmers conserve water and save money.

One project, funded by the state legislature, is developing software that can help take the guessing out of irrigation system efficiency. It is a GPS-based center-pivot auditing software used to calculate water-distribution uniformity in fields.

During Wageningen University’s Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge team AuTomatoes applied the principles of Plant Empowerment in their winning AI strategy. Thus, the team’s strategy was focused on the plant and its balances, in order to create a balanced and empowered crop. So how did they do this?…

During Wageningen University’s Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge team AuTomatoes applied the principles of Plant Empowerment in their winning AI strategy. Thus, the team’s strategy was focused on the plant and it’s balances, in order to create a balanced and empowered crop. So how did they do this? This article explains all about the water balance and how team AuTomatoes kept it in balance at all times.

The water balance is the balance between the input to and output of water from the plants. Output of water is mainly caused by evaporation. Only a little portion of the total water uptake is stored in the plant and the fruits. Plants need to evaporate and thus take up water from the root zone for three reasons: the uptake of nutrients, for growth, and for cooling. In order to keep the water balance in balance, the uptake of water from the root zone must equal at least the evaporation rate. Thus, to ensure sufficient water availability, irrigation needs to be aligned with the plant’s evaporation rate.

Various algorithms were developed to support the tomato crop’s water balance in order to optimize the tomato yields. For example, some of these algorithms made use of a plant temperature sensor and pyrgeo sensor to calculate the net radiation on plant level. Based on this calculation the algorithms decided on the optimal screen position for the crop to receive the right amount of radiation to keep a steady evaporation rate.

Agronomy, Vol. 10, Pages 1379: Strategies for Improved Yield and Water Use Efficiency of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) through Simplified Soilless Cultivation under Semi-Arid Climate

Agronomy doi: 10.3390/agronomy10091379

Authors: Nicola Michelon Giuseppina Pennisi Nang Ohn Myint Giacomo Dall’Olio Lucrecia Pacheco Batista Adeodato Ari Cavalcante Salviano Nazim S. Gruda Francesco Orsini Giorgio Gianquinto

A new irrigation water treatment solution provides autonomous peroxide generation for improved crop protection, increased yields, and reduced irrigation system maintenance. 'HPNow’s HPGen A-Series product line is specifically designed for the needs of horticulture growers. This autonomous system…

Water holding capacity is greatly influenced by the size of the growing medium particles. Coarse particles create macropores which account for drainage and air porosity, while fine particles create micropores which retain water. A mixture of coarse and fine particles can be prejudicial for a substrate…

CODEMA’s knowledge of critical cultivation systems travels around the world. Under the leadership/direction of the Project Management Team, Codema simultaneously realizes horticultural solutions on 4 continents. The team has grown significantly in recent years. How does Codema maintain the level of…

“Some people tend to have a myopic view that water safety is only a third world problem, however that isn’t the case. Understanding water composition is mission-critical to people and businesses around the world, so we need to start with water quality in our own backyard “. - Meena Sankaran  Predictable water insights Indoor farms…