In the Mediterranean Regions, large areas are vulnerable to water scarcity and drought events due to population growth and climate change. An adequate irrigation management is proposed as one of the most effective solutions to favor the economic development of these regions. For this reason, the main impact foreseen by PRECIMED project is to improve the farm productivity through the reduction of production costs and the increase of the crop yield. This solution minimizes the environmental impact due to the sustainable use of resources (water, fertilizers and energy consumption) and reduces the human laborious tasks while feasible business models will be generated. In this sense, PRECIMED is committed to develop of sustainable agriculture by using precision irrigation techniques, adopting and implementing new water and nutrient management practices. PRECIMED is formulated to present a professional irrigation scheduling expert system associated to a set of results coming up from real case studies on fruit and citrus trees and vegetable crops. Specifically, a Standards-based Decision Support System (DSS) for a data-driven irrigation/fertilization management will be developed and validated. The DSS will offer management services to improve the lives of Mediterranean farmers and also to improve water and nutrients use efficiency in EU and non-EU countries. PRECIMED will impact a range of stakeholder groups along the agro-food ecosystem: farmers, businesses, society, public authorities and external communities.
KEY INFORMATION
Acronym:
PRECIMED
Full title:
Precision Irrigation Management to Improve Water and Nutrient Use Efficiency in the Mediterranean Region
Countries:
Spain, Greece, Algeria and Tunisia
FINANCIAL DATA
- Spain (CSIC): € 247500.00
- Spain (ODIN): € 170000.00
- Greece: € 180000.00
- Tunisia: € 113280.00
- Algeria: € 100000.00
IMPACTS
The main impact foreseen by PRECIMED is to improve the farm productivity through the reduction of costs and the increase of the crop yield in with a solution that minimizes the environmental impact due to the sustainable use of resources (water, fertilizers and energy consumption) and reduce the human laborious tasks while feasible business models are generated for the different farming scenarios.
Beneficiaries
A) Direct benefits are: 1. Saving 20 % of the applied irrigation-water, 2. Saving energy and manpower required to pump and distribute any excess of water. Average energy consumption per irrigation systems are about 0.2 kWh/m3 for surface irrigation and 1 kWh/m3 for sprinkler and drip irrigation. For instance, in southern Spain, reducing the water applied to fruit trees orchard by 20 % may produce an average economic savings of 450 Euros/ha resulting from water and energy savings. 3) Reduction of fertilizer use by 20%.
B) Indirect benefits are: 1. Reduction of fertilizers leached out of the plant root zone more than 15%, 2. Improvement of water and fertilizers availability for plant. 3. Reduction of deep water and contaminants percolation to underground aquifer. 4. Providing information on the current crop development and growing stages. This helps to apply the appropriate water needs and nutrients for each specific stage and therefore reduce potential losses. 5. Creating a closer relationship between the farmer and his production system. It offers him a better real understanding of water and nutrient balance within water-soil-plant system 6. Creating consistency in yields between years and improving
- 07 pilot farms are committed in the project from the begining
- 1000 farms will be deployed 03 years after the project end;
- 25 stakeholder will be engaged at the end of the project;
- Raising awareness of farmers and others stakeholder on precise irrigation and fertilizer applications.
PROJECT IN NUMBERS
- 5 Partners
- 4 Countries
- 7 Pilot farms
PROJECT DURATION
- 36 months
- Start date: 01 October 2019
