The FertiTwin Project aims to design a smart ferti-irrigation system supported by a digital twin of the crop, connected to reality through sensors and IoT actuators, where the irrigation and ferti-irrigation programmer plays a key role .
In summary, we describe the main impacts of the proposed new solution:
▪ Improvement in the efficiency of the use of fertilizers, with the consequent economic savings in farms and reduction of water pollution due to the presence of fertilizers, especially nitrate. The economic cost of fertilizers is a significant fraction of the production costs of fruit and vegetable crops. In addition, during 2022 a very marked increase in costs is expected due to the increase in the costs of the energy required for production. At the same time, the environmental impact of fertilizers is very topical, with well-known cases of pollution by nitrates of agricultural origin, such as the Mar Menor or the perimeter of Doñana. The high efficiency of fertilization, enhanced even more by the solutions proposed by this project, play a very significant role in making agricultural production compatible with environmental sustainability.
▪ Improvement in water use efficiency. The reduction of water consumption, thanks to an intelligent management of irrigation and fertigation, contributes to reducing tensions between the availability of the resource and the different uses, where apart from agricultural use, residential and environmental uses stand out. In addition, saving water is usually associated with energy savings associated with pumping and distribution. Less irrigation water application also usually results in better fertilizer use efficiency, due to less leaching with water flow through the soil.
▪ Reduction of water pollution due to the leaching of fertilizers. The precise application of fertilizers, at the right time, place and form, in accordance with the needs of the crop, avoids direct loss through leaching, leaching or indirect, after their temporary accumulation on the ground. The presence of fertilizers in bodies of water is a relevant environmental problem, which reduces the quality of these waters, makes their reuse more expensive and can lead to eutrophication problems.
