The Andalusian Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (Ifapa) has held a demonstration day in Lebrija on sustainable irrigation and fertigation for industrial tomatoes, in collaboration with the Las Marismas cooperative.
The Andalusian Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (Ifapa) has carried out a demonstration day in Lebrija to show farmers and technicians the latest sustainable irrigation and fertigation techniques for industrial tomato cultivation. The activity, developed on an experimental plot in the Sector B-XII of the Las Marismas cooperative, aims to transfer the knowledge generated in research centres to the agricultural operations in the region.
Trials with pulse irrigation and moisture sensors
The technicians and researchers from the Ifapa Rancho de la Merced centre, based in Chipiona, have worked on two main lines. On one hand, four irrigation strategies based on different crop coefficients are compared, calculating water needs from reference evapotranspiration and weather forecasts. On the other hand, twelve commercial varieties of industrial tomatoes are evaluated, all subjected to the same monitoring through spectral images and soil moisture sensors.
Preliminary results indicate that the reduction in water volume, according to the applied coefficient, has not caused significant differences in the spectral indices of the vegetation cover. This suggests that treatments with lower water consumption maintain similar vegetative development, a promising finding for farmers in the area, where water is an increasingly scarce resource.
Precision fertigation and spectral monitoring
The fertigation system tested is based on high-frequency pulse irrigation and the continuous injection of fertilizers into the irrigation water, adjusted to the absorption curves of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other macronutrients of the tomato. Throughout the crop cycle, spectral images have been used to assess the vigor and condition of the vegetation cover, while soil moisture sensors have allowed for almost daily decisions on the frequency and duration of irrigation pulses.
The event, part of Ifapa projects co-financed with European Feder funds, also includes the study of outdoor pepper cultivation, aiming to transfer the results to local producers. Collaboration with the Las Marismas cooperative, through an R&D agreement, enables numerous advisory activities on irrigation and experimentation on real farms.
Next steps: data collection and analysis
The definitive conclusion of this work will come after harvesting, when production data from each experimental plot, fruit quality, yield, and quality of processed tomato paste, as well as efficiency in water and fertilizer use, will be collected. With this data, researchers will be able to verify if water savings maintain production and quality, and determine which management strategy and which varieties yield the best results.
For farmers in Lebrija and the Bajo Guadalquivir, these trials represent an opportunity to improve the profitability of their operations in a context of recurring drought. The initiative strengthens the transfer of knowledge between applied research and the primary sector, a key step for the sustainability of irrigation in the province of Seville.
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