Smart irrigation in fruit and vegetable crops goes far beyond water supply

Irrigation is without a shadow of a doubt the technology that has the greatest impact on increasing productivity in agriculture. But we cannot think that irrigation is only intended to make up for the lack of rain. 

There is still a mistaken view in Brazil that associates the practice of irrigation with supplying water to plants when there is no rain. Believing this is limiting the most powerful tool that the producer has to achieve greater efficiency, lower costs and greater profitability.

Netafim, a pioneer and world leader in irrigation solutions, has been working with the concept of smart irrigation for at least 50 years, when rural producers in Israel invented drip irrigation and decided to convert desert areas into high-productivity land. What they did? In addition to providing water to the plants, they were able to achieve greater productivity using a minimum amount of water, in addition to saving fertilizers and chemical pesticides with the use of the system.

But after all, what is smart irrigation? 

It is the efficient use of localized irrigation technology (drip and microsprinkler). It is to supply water to the roots of plants, where water is really needed, not to the leaves, causing conditions for the emergence of diseases, causing stress to the plant and increasing expenses due to unnecessary applications of chemical pesticides. It means providing water in the right quantity and at the ideal time that the plant needs. It means delivering the necessary nutrients to the plants in the right place and at the right time throughout the growing cycle. It means using the irrigation system as a vehicle for transporting and distributing agricultural inputs, instead of consuming a lot of labor and fuel.

Similar practices have been used in fruit and vegetable crops with agronomic support from Netafim, providing producers with significant results. In tomato cultivation, for example, one of the largest producers in the industry, Iron de Lima, from Fazenda Alegre, in Itaberaí-GO, has been revolutionizing its production since 2012, with a significant increase in tomato productivity and quality, of 73t/ha on the central pivot to 127 t/ha with intelligent drip irrigation. In addition to increasing productivity, the producer achieved better color, greater number of fruits per plant, greater weight, excellent brix and acidity, important characteristics for the commercialization and profitability of the business.

A similar story has been happening with onion cultivation in the Irecê region, in Bahia. One of the largest producers in the region, Edson Carlos, from the company Cebolas Zé Carlos, in João Dourado-BA, switched from the central pivot to smart irrigation a few years ago and has been reaping excellent results, rising from an average productivity of 60 t/ha in central pivot, for 140 t/ha with intelligent drip irrigation. In addition to saving water, a very limited resource in the region, the producer was able to increase his production area, achieve better uniformity and a full class 3 standard for commercialization.

In a world in which the population increases more and more, demanding greater quantities of food, and resources become increasingly scarce, such as good quality water and land for cultivation, using irrigation technology and all Your productive potential is to be intelligent and think about everyone's future.

By Glayton Botelho Rocha, Netafim Agronomic Specialist