Increase the production of your crop by 40% with good fertigation management
Last October in Spain, the twelfth edition of Fruit Attraction took place, one of the most important fairs in Europe in the fruit and vegetable production sector. For the first time, the event was held online through the LIVEConnect platform with a week of many conferences and virtual meetings that included the important exponents of the sector.
Of the more than 160 products presented in this edition, a specialized professional jury has selected 10 finalists in the Fresh Produce category, and 10 finalists in the Auxiliary Industry category, taking into account criteria of applicability, innovation, environmental sustainability and proposal for social conjuncture value.
In the auxiliary industry category, a project called SMART HYDROPONIC GROW SYSTEM attracted our attention with a new production model suitable for all types of agricultural soils. The Project was presented by the company Projar, a global benchmark in cultivation systems based on peat and fiber of coconut.
It is a hybrid system that combines the advantages of traditional soil and hydroponic cultivation that allows an exponential increase in crop productivity by up to 40% through the design and application of a fertigation strategy appropriate to each phase of production.
A solution that is based on the technique of applying coconut fiber to the soil, but that requires specific technical knowledge to use nutritional and water resources in favor of an increase in productivity per plant.
We spoke with Lara Ferri, Projar’s communication manager, to tell us how they have developed the innovative Smart Hydroponic Grow System.
Lara, how did you get into this type of technological solution?
We always work on R&D hand in hand with our clients, to solve real day-to-day problems. The loss of vitality of horticultural soils is one of the most common problems that producers currently face. One of the most widely applied solutions is to incorporate coconut fiber into the horticultural soil, but at Projar we detected that in 70% of the farms where this solution was applied, the roots of the plants only colonized up to 40% of the total volume coconut fiber. This means that the benefits of this system are not taken advantage of, mainly due to inadequate fertigation management. So Smart Hydroponic Grow System was born to solve a real productivity problem.
The roots are the fundamental part of a crop, and if this part of the plant is not potentiated and develops properly, the crop will not reach its maximum production potential. The weakness of the roots can depend both on an excess of water supply (which causes waterlogging and root suffocation) and a lack of water (scarce and insufficient growth). So we focus on finding solutions that maximize root development to favor more active plants with greater productive potential.
How does Smart Hydroponic Grow System work? What does it consist of?
Smart Hydroponic Grow System is a solution that combines the advantages of the Soil Improver System and the agronomic advice provided by our technical team to enhance the advantages of incorporating coconut fiber into agricultural soil.
This solution is the result of the joint work of our Product Managers and the technical team for more than half a year.
The Smart Hydroponic Grow System is a simple technique that is made up of 4 phases: first the ground is prepared by opening furrows using mechanical resources to define the planting line. Afterwards, we place compressed coconut fiber plates (without plastic). Then, the dripper-holder branches are installed on the plates for hydration and expansion of the substrate, and finally we proceed to hilling to cover the hydrated plate with earth and obtain a single productive system between the soil and the coconut fiber.
The installation seems simple… but, once the transplant phase is carried out, what parameters must the producer take into account regarding fertigation?
Yes, explained like this it is very basic and, once the plant has been transplanted, the farmer might think that the most logical thing is to apply the same fertigation strategy as in a soil crop. But actually, it’s very important to know the hydric and nutritional needs of the crop to do a good fertigation management and get the full potential of this system, that varies according to the type of crop and the climatic conditions of the area. Our technical team is personally in charge of designing the fertigation strategy suitable for the crop based on the temperature, relative humidity and solar radiation in the greenhouse and the temperature, humidity and electrical conductivity in the root environment of the plant. We were able to monitor all this in a real trial carried out in a tomato production in Murcia (Spain) using precision technology equipment.
How were the crop parameters monitored to define fertigation in each phase of the crop?
In this trial, the first thing we did was analyze the soil conditions. This particular crop had production problems due to root asphyxia caused by waterlogging, salinity and compaction problems at the surface level. Thanks to the installation of a climatic station in the greenhouse and temperature and humidity sensors in the soil and in the substrate, we were able to design and apply an optimal irrigation strategy based on low volumetric endowments and multi-frequency irrigations depending on the physiological state of the plant in each phase of the culture from the data collected. The problem in agricultural holdings that incorporate coconut fiber is that they carry out high volumetric endowment and low frequency irrigation, which promotes a greater presence of roots in the soil and not in the substrate.
What are the main benefits of Smart Hydroponic Grow System?
They are many if we start from the fact that the raw material used, coconut fiber, has innumerable physical-chemical benefits that improve the structure of the soil. But, in addition, with our technical advice on fertigation, efficient management in the use of water and nutrients is achieved, obtaining more active and productive plants, since we achieve that the root development colonizes between 70% and 80% of the total volume of coconut fiber, thus solving the problem that we had detected.
What are the results obtained?
This is the best part. In the crops where we are carrying out this solution, by increasing the colonization of the roots in the substrate, we got stronger and more productive plants. This has led to an increase in production of up to 40% approximately during the first year compared to the productivity obtained in the previous harvest and an increase in productivity of 30% in the second year.
Is it an expensive implantation for growers?
Any alternative to traditional soil cultivation supposes a higher cost, since there’s an investment in another cultivation system independent of the soil. In this case, the producer has to make an initial investment to acquire the compressed coconut fiber plates, but the cost is fully profitable during the first year of production.
Today most growers are concerned about the environment and offering more sustainable crops.
Coconut fiber is a product of the food industry that is a waste that we revalue. In addition, it is a renewable raw material with a high organic content with multiple benefits for horticultural soil. When it’s incorporated into agricultural soil it’s free of plastics and, after two years, at which time the renewal of the plates is recommended, it can be mixed with the soil without any problem.
Logistically, its transport is also optimized because the coconut fiber has the ability to compress and re-expand through hydration once it reaches its destination.
Is Smart Hydroponic Grow System available in the United States?
Yes, we work in more than 20 countries around the world: Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, South Africa, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, France, Poland, Italy and China.
In the United States we are very well positioned. We would love to be able to do a project here and help solve farmers’ production problems, so my email is lara.ferri@projargroup.com. We have also created a Smart Hydroponic Grow System information manual that can be downloaded from this link https://bit.ly/2KqswMe