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The Community will install more than 500 probes on 36,200 hectares of farmland in the Campo de Cartagena to avoid unnecessary irrigation and minimize drainage or leachate with nutrients to the aquifer.

This was announced today by the Minister of Water, Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Environment, Antonio Luengo, who said that the General Directorate of Water is finalizing the drafting of the project that will subsequently be put out to tender.

The referred probes, which will be placed on the farms of the Community of irrigators of the Campo de Cartagena, consist of several rings that measure the depth of the soil to where the root of the plantations reaches and detect when the water exceeds the limit of the same, that is, when there is no root activity, "which allows, in addition to the advantages indicated, the good use of water, since the needs of water supply to the crop change depending on the weather," said the counselor.

All probes will be connected to each other, will work in the most active root zone and will help maintain the soil moisture level at its optimum point for crop growth.

The data will be sent to a receiver installed in the head by radio signal, and the owners of the farms will also have access to them.

For its distribution over the territory, the variability of existing soils and crops in the Campo de Cartagena have been taken into account, so that all the community members can be advised.

Luengo unveiled this project during the signing of an agreement between the Central of Irrigation Central of the Tagus-Segura Aqueduct (Scrats) and the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT), whose objective is to conduct a study on citrus and melon fertigation in the Field of Cartagena.

Scrats-UPCT Collaboration

Regarding the agreement, Antonio Luengo said that "we are convinced of the need to promote and promote the university-business binomial and the decisive importance of the collaboration of the private sector and universities in order to transfer and apply the knowledge acquired on the field A relationship where the university obtains the ideal field of work to carry out its research task and the private sector benefits from the results obtained, which will allow it to improve its professional performance. "

The head of Agriculture said that "although the technification of irrigation in the Region is very high, collaborations such as this demonstrate the innovative spirit of the sector, which constantly seeks to overcome and works to optimize a resource as fundamental as scarce as water is" .

"The optimization of water use leads to a decrease in chemical fertilization, minimizing contamination of groundwater by leaching nitrates applied as fertilizer. Something fundamental, especially in the field of action where this collaboration is framed as is the Campo de Cartagena. In similar studies where the Ministry has collaborated, results have been obtained by reducing 30 percent of both irrigation water, CO2 emissions and nitrate leaching, "he concluded.

Source: CARM