On November 10, Plataforma Tierra published the article “Sensorization and smart irrigation by BrioAgro to improve water use efficiency in an eggplant crop”, which highlights the excellent results achieved by BrioAgro. In this comparison, BrioAgro obtained 27% more production than following FAO recommendations and 9% more than irrigation managed by technicians using agronomic criteria.
In absolute terms, BrioAgro achieved 97.7 tonnes per hectare of marketable yield, compared to 89.9 t/ha with irrigation based on expert technical criteria and 76.6 t/ha following FAO-recommended patterns.
In this way, BrioAgro once again demonstrates that it is the most efficient irrigation system, achieving an efficiency 23% higher than FAO and 7% higher than irrigation managed with expert technical criteria.
The Irrigation Efficiency metric combines two concepts: kilograms of marketable product per cubic meter of water used, an indicator in which BrioAgro typically excels, often due to lower water consumption. However, in this case, the results are particularly noteworthy because BrioAgro surpassed efficiency even while applying slightly more water, showing that timing and precision in irrigation are decisive factors.
Specifically, with only 2.1% more water compared to the technical criterion, an increase of 7.8 tonnes per hectare was achieved, representing a 9% increase in marketable production. This increase was due to a strategic application of irrigation during highly sensitive phenological stages, where small water deficits have a direct impact on cell division and proper development of sink organs. Added to this is a key factor: the ability to know the crop’s water needs in real time. The BrioAgro system integrates continuous measurements of soil moisture, plant water status, and climatic variables, allowing irrigation doses to be adjusted precisely when the crop demands them. This synchronization prevents subclinical water stress periods which, although not visually apparent, reduce growth and limit final fruit size.
BrioAgro used 6,406 m³/ha to achieve 97.7 t/ha, compared to the expert technical criterion, which used 6,274 m³/ha to produce 89.9 t/ha of marketable yield.
Trial carried out at the facilities of the Cajamar Foundation in Paiporta (Valencia).
- Crop: Eggplant, variety Cristal (Fitó).
- Planting date: 02/04/2025.
- Harvest: from 25/05/2025 to 25/08/2025, with a total of 21 harvests.
For the trial, the BrioAgro ViTA 9 model was used, along with a dripper counter and the Aqua Power Smart Irrigation Controller, integrated into the irrigation programmer installed on the farm by Himarcan.
The BrioAgro ViTA 11 is a device that measures soil moisture at two depths, expressed in L/m³, as well as electrical conductivity and soil temperature. In this trial, it was placed at 15 cm and 30 cm depth, although the 15 cm depth would have been sufficient.
At both depths, it also displays a unique BrioAgro indicator: relative moisture with respect to Field Capacity (100%), which in this soil corresponded to 361 L/m³ in absolute terms.
The value of Readily Available Water (RAW) for eggplant was set at 45%, equivalent to 288 L/m³ for this soil, while the Permanent Wilting Point (0%) was determined to be 299 L/m³.
It is worth noting that the ViTA 11 device combined with a dripper counter (ViTA Mar Menor) is the system most widely used by BrioAgro in the Spanish Levante, as it meets the requirements established for crop monitoring in the Mar Menor area.
Overall, these data confirm that water management based on real-time, real-world data, aligned with the crop’s physiological needs, maximizes yield even with minimal increases in water: it is not only about how much you irrigate, but when and with what precision each irrigation event is applied.