LIFE TRIPLET: Digitalisation of efficient fertigation management for a sustainable agriculture.

Introduction

Farmers are facing an increasing water scarcity scenario, which has led them to search for alternative water sources. This comes at a high cost and with a downfall in water quality, making irrigation and crop fertilisation management and, ultimately, food production very complicated.

Need for Technological Integration

Therefore, it is necessary to combine technological advances, digitalisation, and agronomy to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of the sector through better management of available resources.

Proposed Solution

It is proposed to implement in the most representative Mediterranean crops a digital platform resulting from the adaptation of four existing ones by UPCT, IMIDA, AQUATEC (VEOLIASpain-AGBAR), and FMC. The four combined tools will:

1. Capture and monitor information from:

   • The optimisation of irrigation water mix available in the area according to physicochemical, microbiological quality criteria, and energy cost.
   • Different soil-plant-atmosphere water indicators, multispectral, and thermal indices at demonstration plot scale (DP).
   • Effects on crop of pests and diseases.

2. Information Processing and Visualisation of the evolution of different indices for each DP.

3. Predictive modelling using Machine Learning techniques, including information from the PDs and other irrigable areas, in order to:

4. Validate the models and their subsequent integration with an intelligent and safe agricultural nutrition center that is able to automate fertigation through the algorithms resulting from the different platforms.

5. Ensure the sustainability of the final product, being a competitive marketable solution.

Overall Objective

The project has an overall demonstrative objective, consisting of the implementation of a digital tool for monitoring crop development and sustainable management of plant health, water, and nutrient application. This will involve extrapolating the indicators of plant and soil water status obtained in the DP to a larger scale, through multispectral indices obtained from drone and satellite images.