Yesterday, Thursday, July 20, 2023, a conference on Efficient use of water in olive groves was held at the DCOOP facilities in the heart of Andalusia, Antequera, Málaga, in collaboration with Cajamar. More than 150 people participated in the event, and emphasized the need to improve water policies, including storage capacities, the use of purified water and irrigation efficiency.</p >
Our CEO, José Luis Bustos, took part in the round table entitled “Efficient use of irrigation water”, where he shared BrioAgro’s experiences in the field of irrigated olive groves, both in Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands. During his intervention, he highlighted several practical cases of the use of BrioAgro technology to save water, showing two cases with savings of 28% and 33%, respectively, and an 8% increase in production. In addition, he presented a new performance indicator per m3 (Kg / ha / m3) to assess the use of water.</ P>
During the event on the efficient use of water in olive groves, the agronomists and farmers present showed great interest in the technology and asked various questions and answers, of which we highlight some:
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- Question: How many devices should be placed per olive farm?
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- Answer: If there is crop uniformity, a single guide sensor is usually sufficient. We use satellite images to determine in which sector to place this guide sensor, and then we use the satellite irrigation simulator to extrapolate that information to the rest of the sectors. In this way, each sector receives an irrigation adjusted to its needs, which allows us to save water.
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- Question: When is the best time to water?
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- Answer: The ideal time to irrigate depends on the type of soil, the microclimate and the particular crop. However, generally speaking, the crop demands more water when the sun is at its zenith and wakes up with sunrise. Therefore, a good time to water is at dawn. With BrioAgro devices, the optimal time for irrigation can be precisely determined.
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- Question: Is there any kind of help to use this technology?
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- Answer: Right now, the Digital Kit is bringing digitalization closer to farmers. We encourage you to contact us to verify the availability of funds, as in most cases, financing is available.
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- Question: What if I have a dry olive grove?
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- Answer: Although BrioAgro is a specialist in irrigation, we are currently working on dryland olive farms in Estepa, Seville, where we are evaluating different water retention techniques that show promising results. We are awaiting confirmation of funds from the Digital Innovation Hubs, which will allow us to test and prove these positive results with our devices. Since some farmers do not have access to a well or water from an irrigation community, it is crucial to find solutions to drought and years of water deficit.
The CEO of BrioAgro highlighted the enriching experience in the conferences and was pleasantly surprised by the magnificent results of DCOOP. He expressed concern about the lack of water available to farmers as demand exceeds supply, noting that it is necessary to solve the water problem to meet market demand.
It was also mentioned that the Junta de Andalucía, represented by D. Manuel Gómez Galera, General Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock and Food of the Junta de Andalucía, is committed to solving the water problem, investing in infrastructure and expediting improvements. However, some farmers and representatives of irrigation communities expressed their concern about the slowness in the administrative processes and execution of these works, which delays their start-up.
BrioAgro, in this sense, offers its solution as part of the set of solutions necessary to face the water problem, and highlights that its technology can be implemented immediately to start saving water from day one. José Luis Bustos supported the new investments to solve the problem in the long term, but urged olive growers to address the problem now. 