The ITO-FOG Operational Group seeks to improve the quality of olive oil with a software tool and less irrigation
Description
More boost to rural areas
The ITO-FOG Operational Group (GO) studies the yield of olive crops
The experiments will allow us to see if the quality of the oil improves with irrigation strategies and if it is affected by deficit irrigation.
Olive cultivation is normally carried out dry land, but the use of irrigation allows a series of advantages such as greater production, control of the health of the olive trees or the fight against pests. In addition, farmers need to see how their crops perform in much more restrictive water conditions than a few years ago.
Given this, the ITO-FOG Operational Group began working in 2020 to provide alternatives to farmers who encounter problems such as drought or insufficient production.
This is how the Hispatec Group , a technological solutions company for agricultural and agro-industrial management and coordinator of the project, began to collaborate with the Tecnova Foundation to explore ways to improve the oil with different planting frameworks and irrigation strategies.
The action takes place in the Almeria town of Lubrín , and uses digitization tools in plots.
Strategies
ITO-FOG guides your project around three axes:
Development of an irrigation controller. It uses low-cost hardware and software systems that make it easier for the farmer to establish specific irrigation strategies.
Irrigation strategies in different productive frameworks. It uses two possible irrigation frameworks in which, on the one hand, it has the standard needs of the crop; and, on the other hand, it performs deficit irrigation to analyze the performance of the crops in this type of situation.
Evaluation of results. The possible increase in olive production will be analyzed through studies of irrigation strategies with intelligent control and the reduction of water consumption.
The project has already studied performance with different irrigation strategies, but the installation of irrigation modules means that "farmers will be able to measure their irrigation strategies so that they can enter the data collected last year and what conditions they pose in strategies," he explains to the National Rural Network ( RRN ) the head of Innovation of the Hispatec Group, Alba Gutiérrez Domínguez.
How does the software work?
Such a technological system may seem overly complex, but it is intended for intuitive use and a cheap and simple application.
Thus, its use is carried out in a “ mobile app or on the web , where farmers can consult the data from the meteorological stations installed by Tecnova”, low-cost stations that send the data to the irrigation module and the software tool.
From the app the farmer can consult the information and forecasts and, in the end, establish their irrigation strategies and conditions that change irrigation according to different situations, such as stopping watering if it is raining.
“This project allows them to see which irrigation strategies are the most appropriate and see what effects they are having in times of drought ,” explains Gutiérrez.
Project phases
The first phase, the documentary phase, has been completed with the study of the methodologies of the software tool. The second phase, experimental, has already seen 2 of the 3 activities resolved. Thus, the systems and strategies have been defined for the optimization of irrigation and the management of water stress in crops. Phases three and four have already been resolved, with reports written and the disclosure process begun.
Finally, after the end of the collection campaign next February 2024 , the GO will analyze whether the strategies have made it possible to improve the quality of the oil , and if the quality and production have been affected by the deficit irrigation strategies.
Members and funding
ITO-FOG is formed by the Hispatec Group , the Technological Center for Auxiliary Technologies in Agriculture, Postharvest and Packaging ( Tecnova Foundation ); Agrícola García SL , Oleocampo, Sociedad Cooperativa Andaluza ; and CITOLIVA .
The total budget of the Operational Group is 247,535 euros , through aid co-financed at 90% by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and 10% by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development of the Board of Andalusia.