At the vanguard of sustainable agriculture, Almería stands out as a model of success recognized both at a regional level in Spain and internationally. Its innovative approach to agriculture has set new standards, thanks in large part to the strategic use of technology and efficient management of natural resources. This success is supported by a collaborative network of cooperatives, auxiliary industry, and research centers, all committed to the continuous improvement of agricultural processes.
Innovative Management of Irrigation and Nutrition
The management of irrigation, based on the knowledge of crop requirements, the forecast of water demand, and the use of sensors (for solar radiation, ambient humidity, available soil water, and the tension at which it is retained) has boosted profitability while contributing to the farmer’s quality of life and peace of mind.
Nutrition, from the moment fertigation is practiced, is attributed to the irrigation chapter and inserted in the same cabin where the water is filtered and controlled. However, the tool for nutrient contribution has not implemented extraordinary advances like water management. Today, the basic tool for fertilizer application in Almería is still the Venturi, although integrated into the “irrigation machine.”
The Problem with Venturi in Fertigation
The Venturi, which incorporates the fertilizer uncontrollably, has meters added whose error in the measurement of the volumes provided in intermittent flows is very high, and finally, management must be carried out based on the measurement of a secondary parameter with a reduced scale range: electrical conductivity. Although it is the basis of a very important technological edifice, the Venturi suffers from the limitation of not being an instrument that allows the dosing of precise volumes and flows.
The procedures for using the Venturi have incorporated precautions that penalize activity, such as the extreme dilution of mother solutions, application at the same rate referenced to the amount of water (“lowering evenly”), and the association of products without reaction in conductivity (micronutrients) or that must be applied in small quantities to macronutrient products with a marked reaction in conductivity.
The farmer and the knowledge community have accepted the servitude of this limitation, which in practice means the renunciation of precise and segregated control of each nutrient, the dedication of larger volumes of mother solution or lower autonomy of these, and higher energy consumption.
Towards More Efficient and Sustainable Fertigation
The emergence in recent years of precise dosing pumps, which allow injecting the defined amounts for each moment of the crop, makes it possible today to better control the dosage. This means: greater economy due to lower consumption of fertilizers, the possibility of using more concentrated products with storage space savings, and a lower volume of liquids handled, which in turn represents lower energy consumption.
The turbine agitator is the complement that allows concentrating the mother solution more efficiently than blowing pumps, incapable of achieving a similar concentration of fertilizer despite consuming much more energy. The application of work exclusively at the base of the tank where the fertilizer to be dissolved is located, and the wide treatment surface per watt consumed make the turbine agitator the optimal tool to obtain a stable and concentrated mother solution.
Advanced Control Doser and Agitator are two legs of a binomial that guarantees efficiency and precision, bases of profitability.
The integration of the advanced control doser and the turbine agitator represents a significant advance in fertigation, ensuring more precise and efficient management of crop nutrition. These innovations are fundamental for the future of sustainable agriculture, promising not only to increase profitability but also to reduce the environmental impact of agricultural practices. In Almería and beyond, the future of agriculture looks greener and brighter thanks to these technological advances.
