PLANTS HAVE
THE FLOOR
On February
24, I attended the annual meeting on irrigation scheduling in agriculture,
organized here in Seville, by a local company dedicated to new technologies
applied to irrigation, Optiriego (some free advert cannot hurt).
It is quite
interesting to observe the evolution of the possibilities offered by new
technologies.
When I
entered the profession in 1983, the great novelty for irrigation management was
the tensiometer, a small device filled with water placed in the soil, which
measures the availability of water by measuring the suction force necessary to
extract it. From this force, we deduce the energy needed by the plant to absorb
water.
Photo
Irrometer (US manufacturer of tensiometers)
Photo
Irrometer (US manufacturer of tensiometers)
This tool,
still used for its high reliability, but whose usefulness is limited because of
its lack of practicity and versatility, supposed a revolution in the management
of irrigation. At last we were able to objectively measure the water
availability in the soil.
Until
then, the farmer was monitoring soil moisture with a kick in clods or
scratching somewhat superficially. A few people were using a manual auger,
allowing them a subjective, slow and painful assessment of the moisture at the
roots.
A few years
later, appeared probes of different types, all intended to measure the soil
moisture. All these probes are still in use and have allowed great progress in
rationalizing the use of water in agriculture, and reducing wastage of fresh
water.
By combining
these sensors with more modern irrigation systems, the actual water consumption
has been reduced by half or more.
Photo
alphaomega-electronics (electronic equipment sales)
Photo IG4
(Spanish business consultancy in irrigation and plant nutrition)
At the same
time, some slightly offset researchers were trying to invent sensors capable of
measuring plant response.
Over
time, these inventions, long left as mere research tools or a little wacky
inventions, either by their complexity of use, either by their cost or by the
difficulty in interpreting the information, gradually managed to find their
place in the farms.
This
is, for example,
-
Information
available at the field, farm or region scale, using remote sensing satellite,
plane or drone, that allow an assessment of crop conditions and crop regularity
n Infrared photography,
n Thermal cameras which
provide information about the photosynthesis or the foliage of the temperature,
n Other systems by
ultraviolet, ultrasonic or other, that measure the state of underground water
tables, or learn about other types of measurement plant.
Photo
Farmstar-expert (French business consultancy in agriculture)
-
Measurements
taken at the level of the plant, such as
n Photosynthesis sensors,
which inform of the state of the plant by measuring photosynthesis variations,
n Sap flow sensors, which
measure the velocity of circulation of the sap in the trunk,
n Dendrometers that measure
micrometric variations in the diameter of the branch,
n Or other pressure chambers,
turgor sensor, etc.
This
is to link climate data, soil moisture and irrigation data, and behavioral
measures of the plant, to interpret the reaction of crop to techniques
implemented by the farmer.
This is to
link climate data, soil moisture and irrigation data, and behavioral measures
of the plant, to interpret the reaction of crop to techniques implemented by
the farmer.
This control
station in an orchard measures temperature, humidity, rainfall, water flow and
hours of irrigation, soil moisture at three levels, and the reaction of the
plant through a dendrometer on branch and another on fruit.
A
dendrometer on branch
Until
then, the farmer was observing symptoms that allow him to know approximatively
if the plant was fine, with the defect that in most cases that when the
symptoms appear, the plant is in a delicate situation from quite time, and
sometimes irreversibly.
These
technologies can detect problems in the plant before it externalizes them, and
also allow the farmer to understand how the plant reacts to cultural practices,
thus adapting.
As
agriculture, by definition, is interested primarily in the production, the
first consequence of the responsiveness that give these technologies to the
farmer is an improvement of productivity without a need of more inputs, quite
the opposite, applying them at the right time, at the right dose and the right
place.
These
technologies allow to increase very substantially the agricultural
sustainability, improving the efficiency of all its practices, by converting
them in productive and qualitative performance, accompanied by a reduction of
its environmental impact.
When one is
a farmer, as is my case, and has the nose every day in the daily management, or
one is, as is the case for everyone, a consumer more concerned about what is
put on his plates, that by the problems of those who do it, one does not
necessarily see the scope of these technological changes.
In fact, all
these sensors and systems open up a new path of development of agriculture.
It's even more than that, it is a genuine revolution, discreet and silent, but
with an uncommon reach.
This is the
first time in the history of agriculture (that is only the last 12,000 years!),
that somehow is given the word to the plants.
The plant is
our production facilities, we ask it to produce more and better, but we did not
know or could not take account of its daily reactions, primarily because there
were no direct measure means. We measured the soil and deduced the behavior of
the plant, or we weighed the wood eliminated by pruning, and deduced for the
following year, the measures to be taken.
But
we are now able to understand at least part of what the plant says to us, and
take it into account in the daily management.
We are
giving the floor to the plants.
This
is a really profound change, which influences not only on farming techniques,
but especially on the intimate relationship between the farmer and the plant,
so the mentality, which is much more difficult.
I
tell you, this is a revolution!
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