13TSB_AgriFood: Developing innovative tools to manage risks associated with improving resource efficiency and fruit quality in substrate soft fruit
Lead Research Organisation:
National Institute of Agricultural Botany
Department Name: Centre for Research
Abstract
Globally, agriculture and horticulture accounts for approximately 70% of all blue water abstracted and abstraction rates in many crop production areas are unsustainable. Future water security will be achieved through a combination of more efficient use of water or reduction of water loss and wastage. In the UK, the horticulture and potato industries rely on irrigation water to deliver economic yields of high quality produce with good shelf-life. However, new economically and environmentally sustainable production methods are urgently needed if the provision of a safe, healthy and nutritious food supply is to be achieved against a background of dwindling natural resources.
The UK strawberry industry is a vital part of the UK's rural economy, worth £225 million in 2012. Irrigation and the addition of fertilisers (fertigation) is essential to produce the high quality berries demanded by retailers and consumers. Many growers are advised to irrigate to achieve 10-25% run-off to prevent the accumulation of damaging 'salts' within the substrate. Although over-irrigation and high fertiliser inputs can lead to excessive vegetative growth, increased disease susceptibility, lower marketable yields, poor organoleptic quality and a short shelf-life, many growers are reluctant to reduce water (and fertiliser) inputs due to the lack of suitable management tools and crop monitoring systems.
Our aim is to develop and deliver a new innovative technology package that utilises a 'closed loop' PID fertigation control unit and digital and multispectral imaging systems to inform management practices and aid decision-making for commercial strawberry growers. The PID function on the new GP2 Advanced Logger and Controller will be used to impose consistent water deficits on commercial strawberry varieties grown in substrate on table-tops at EMR. Traditional but intensive measurements of physiological responses to water deficits or high ECs will be compared to digital and multispectral imaging approaches to determine their potential to remotely monitor and detect very early physiological responses to rootzone stresses. It will be important to ensure that the novel water-and fertiliser saving fertigation strategy does not alter resilience to yield-depressing powdery mildew and the potential of thermal imaging to detect very early infection in inoculated plants will be determined.
The potential of the novel combination of technologies to improve on-farm management decision making will be tested on five commercial strawberry farms in the UK. The GP2 will be linked wirelessly to commercial fertigation rigs at each site using shortwave radio so that the water- and fertiliser-saving fertigation strategies developed using the PID function at EMR can be integrated in to large-scale strawberry production. The components of a novel multi-detector imaging system needed to monitor crop responses under the water- and fertiliser saving regimes to identify any negative effects on plant water relations, photosynthetic performance and powdery mildew susceptibility, to predict Class 1 yields and quantify changes in berry phytonutrient content will be identified. The prototype imaging system will then be tested on commercial farms to determine its potential to provide real-time data to farmers on crop health and productivity. The outputs from this project will improve the economic and environmental sustainability of UK soft fruit production by delivering greater water, fertiliser and pesticide use efficiencies, improved plant health, higher marketable yields, better fruit quality and a reduction in waste.
The UK strawberry industry is a vital part of the UK's rural economy, worth £225 million in 2012. Irrigation and the addition of fertilisers (fertigation) is essential to produce the high quality berries demanded by retailers and consumers. Many growers are advised to irrigate to achieve 10-25% run-off to prevent the accumulation of damaging 'salts' within the substrate. Although over-irrigation and high fertiliser inputs can lead to excessive vegetative growth, increased disease susceptibility, lower marketable yields, poor organoleptic quality and a short shelf-life, many growers are reluctant to reduce water (and fertiliser) inputs due to the lack of suitable management tools and crop monitoring systems.
Our aim is to develop and deliver a new innovative technology package that utilises a 'closed loop' PID fertigation control unit and digital and multispectral imaging systems to inform management practices and aid decision-making for commercial strawberry growers. The PID function on the new GP2 Advanced Logger and Controller will be used to impose consistent water deficits on commercial strawberry varieties grown in substrate on table-tops at EMR. Traditional but intensive measurements of physiological responses to water deficits or high ECs will be compared to digital and multispectral imaging approaches to determine their potential to remotely monitor and detect very early physiological responses to rootzone stresses. It will be important to ensure that the novel water-and fertiliser saving fertigation strategy does not alter resilience to yield-depressing powdery mildew and the potential of thermal imaging to detect very early infection in inoculated plants will be determined.
The potential of the novel combination of technologies to improve on-farm management decision making will be tested on five commercial strawberry farms in the UK. The GP2 will be linked wirelessly to commercial fertigation rigs at each site using shortwave radio so that the water- and fertiliser-saving fertigation strategies developed using the PID function at EMR can be integrated in to large-scale strawberry production. The components of a novel multi-detector imaging system needed to monitor crop responses under the water- and fertiliser saving regimes to identify any negative effects on plant water relations, photosynthetic performance and powdery mildew susceptibility, to predict Class 1 yields and quantify changes in berry phytonutrient content will be identified. The prototype imaging system will then be tested on commercial farms to determine its potential to provide real-time data to farmers on crop health and productivity. The outputs from this project will improve the economic and environmental sustainability of UK soft fruit production by delivering greater water, fertiliser and pesticide use efficiencies, improved plant health, higher marketable yields, better fruit quality and a reduction in waste.
Technical Summary
More efficient use of water, fertilisers and pesticides is vital to the future success of all UK agri-businesses. However, growers express concerns about adopting well-researched technologies for water- and fertiliser-saving because of potential negative effects on production when scaling-up, due to poor quality irrigation water, non-uniformity of commercial irrigation systems, the build-up of yield-depressing salts in the substrate and the associated risks of increased susceptibility to disease. A new 'closed loop' fertigation control unit will be developed to mitigate the risks associated with scaling-up this system to commercial substrate production. Multispectral and digital imaging systems will be developed to detect leaks, to monitor plant health, to predict fruit yields and to quantify berry quality parameters under the water- and fertiliser-saving strategies. Results will be validated against conventional but intensive measures of plant productivity and health in commercial strawberry varieties exposed to differing degrees of biotic and abiotic stresses. The outputs will lower fixed costs, improve resource use efficiency and crop quality, and reduce wastage via sustainable crop management.
Planned Impact
The main economic and social benefits will be a significant boost to the economic performance of the UK's soft fruit and ancillary industries. Improved consistency of high quality fresh fruit with enhanced phytonutrient content and longer shelf-life, grown under environmentally sustainable production methods will benefit UK retailers and consumers. BerryGardens Growers Ltd will benefit from improved efficiencies during production, higher profits due to increased tonnages to sell and improved fruit quality and shelf-life potential. Delta-T Devices Ltd will benefit from a new market opportunity to sell GP2 units to commercial soft fruit growers; Eden Irrigation Consultancy Ltd will benefit from new business establishing effective and reliable wireless communication between the GP2-based PID unit and commercial fertigation rigs. The Technology Research Centre will increase their involvement with the soft fruit industry and by extending their current range of imaging capability to include multispectral imaging, they will also benefit from East Malling Research's expertise in phenotyping and analysis of fruit quality attributes such as the quantification of phytonutrient contents that will enable calibration of the imaging system. East Malling Research's research efforts into identifying QTL associated with beneficial traits will benefit from ability to impose consistent stresses, and the identification of novel imaging solutions to facilitate rapid measurement of important agronomic and fruit quality traits such as fruit size and berry phytonutrient content.
The project consortium anticipates that the innovative technologies will also benefit the wider research and grower communities to provide substantial environmental and sociological opportunities for the UK horticultural industry. Benefits will include improved resource use efficiency, reduced pesticide use, improved yield predictions, extended shelf-life and reduced wastage in store and better fruit quality for consumers. The technologies developed will be transferable to all high value horticulture sectors and will help to deliver-on farm resource use efficiencies. More efficient use of resources will enable growers to maintain or increase their cropping areas despite increasingly limited freshwater supplies and the rising costs of inorganic fertilisers. The improved water, fertiliser and pesticide use efficiencies that growers will be able to achieve using the project outputs will help to reduce the environmental impact of intensive horticultural production on groundwater availability and quality which is an increasing cause for concern in the major soft fruit growing regions and especially so in the south east. These benefits will be delivered over a 10-year timeframe.
By becoming more efficient, the industry will become more competitive in the market place and this should deliver improved values for the buyers of the product. Producing higher yields of more flavoursome fruit with an improved phytonutrient content and extended shelf-life in an environmentally sustainable way should help to stimulate increased consumption which links into the government agenda on healthy eating to combat obesity and associated diseases. The project outputs would also deliver into produce assurance schemes such as LEAF Marque and the Red Tractor Scheme and retailers' own corporate sustainability schemes. Increasing resource efficiency and economic output from the same area of land will benefit the environment and water-related ecosystem services and impact positively on the people living within the producer communities. The ratio of inputs such as water, energy, pesticides and fertilisers will be lowered if higher yields of quality product can be produced from the same area of land. The development of these innovations could have a very large economic, environmental and social impact to the UK sustainability and health agenda for parties outside of the consortium.
The project consortium anticipates that the innovative technologies will also benefit the wider research and grower communities to provide substantial environmental and sociological opportunities for the UK horticultural industry. Benefits will include improved resource use efficiency, reduced pesticide use, improved yield predictions, extended shelf-life and reduced wastage in store and better fruit quality for consumers. The technologies developed will be transferable to all high value horticulture sectors and will help to deliver-on farm resource use efficiencies. More efficient use of resources will enable growers to maintain or increase their cropping areas despite increasingly limited freshwater supplies and the rising costs of inorganic fertilisers. The improved water, fertiliser and pesticide use efficiencies that growers will be able to achieve using the project outputs will help to reduce the environmental impact of intensive horticultural production on groundwater availability and quality which is an increasing cause for concern in the major soft fruit growing regions and especially so in the south east. These benefits will be delivered over a 10-year timeframe.
By becoming more efficient, the industry will become more competitive in the market place and this should deliver improved values for the buyers of the product. Producing higher yields of more flavoursome fruit with an improved phytonutrient content and extended shelf-life in an environmentally sustainable way should help to stimulate increased consumption which links into the government agenda on healthy eating to combat obesity and associated diseases. The project outputs would also deliver into produce assurance schemes such as LEAF Marque and the Red Tractor Scheme and retailers' own corporate sustainability schemes. Increasing resource efficiency and economic output from the same area of land will benefit the environment and water-related ecosystem services and impact positively on the people living within the producer communities. The ratio of inputs such as water, energy, pesticides and fertilisers will be lowered if higher yields of quality product can be produced from the same area of land. The development of these innovations could have a very large economic, environmental and social impact to the UK sustainability and health agenda for parties outside of the consortium.
Organisations
- National Institute of Agricultural Botany (Lead Research Organisation)
- Delta T Devices Ltd (Collaboration)
- Plantworks Ltd UK (Collaboration)
- Environmental Monitoring Solutions Ltd (Collaboration)
- Weatherquest Ltd (Collaboration)
- Berry Gardens Growers Limited (Collaboration)
- Netafim UK Ltd (Collaboration)
- The Technology Research Centre Ltd (Collaboration)
People |
ORCID iD |
| Mark Else (Principal Investigator) | |
| Xiangming Xu (Co-Investigator) |
| Description | Achievements Each of the original goals of this project have been met. 1. Closed loop fertigation unit. Delta-T Devices Ltd and NIAB EMR developed and delivered a new innovative technology package that enables substrate strawberry growers to improve the precision of their irrigation and fertigation strategies to ensure optimum yields of high quality, Class 1 fruit and improved on-farm resource use efficiency. The package combines a GP2 Advanced Logger and Controller with temperature corrected substrate moisture sensors (Delta-T Devices Ltd), with detailed knowledge of how proprietary strawberry varieties respond to decreasing coir moisture availability (NIAB EMR). The proportional-integral-derivative (PID) function on the GP2 Advanced Logger and Controller was used to impose consistent water deficits on several commercial varieties grown in substrate on table-tops at NIAB EMR. Traditional but intensive measurements of physiological responses to limited substrate moisture content and/or high ECs were used to identify irrigation and fertigation set points for use in commercial trials. 2. Imaging system. The TRC carried out the testing, identification and validation of appropriate imagers capable of monitoring substrate crops at the leaf and canopy scales so that risks associated with scaling up can be managed effectively by commercial growers. A prototype imaging system to count fruit and assess ripeness was developed and then tested on commercial farms to determine its potential to provide real-time data to farmers on crop productivity. An additional deliverable was achieved whereby individual fruit size could be measured by the fruit vision system so that crop yield and quality under different irrigation and fertigation management regimes could be assessed. NIAB EMR determined the potential of using thermal imaging to detect very early physiological responses to abiotic and biotic stresses in cropping plants. The rise in leaf temperature caused by drought-induced stomatal closure is well known and was noted here, but we also found that infection with powdery mildew (Podosphaera aphanis) could be detected by thermal imaging three days before disease symptoms first became visible, and so could provide a useful early warning system for growers. There is the potential to develop this system further to help to inform on-farm decision-making and to enable commercial growers to manage the risks associated with scaling-up the precision irrigation approach, and we will seek follow-on funding to continue this work. NIAB EMR also assessed the potential of using hyperspectral imaging and modelling to develop non-destructive ways of assessing aspects of berry quality was also investigated. The optimum wavelengths needed to reliably predict fruit quality attributes and leaf physiological parameters varied with different strawberry varieties and although the technique shows great potential, further research work is needed to develop robust models that can be used to predict accurately fruit quality components. This work is being carried out by the NIAB EMR project team in a new IUK collaborative project "Vesca". 3. Informing irrigation strategies on commercial farms. NIAB EMR, Delta-T Devices Ltd and Netafim UK Ltd tested the potential of the precision irrigation system developed in this project to improve management decision making and on-farm production efficiency on five Berry Gardens commercial strawberry farms over two years. The GP2 Advanced Logger and Controller was linked to commercial fertigation rigs at each site using dry contacts or shortwave radio (Netafim UK Ltd) so that the water- and fertiliser-saving fertigation strategies developed at NIAB EMR could be integrated in to large-scale substrate production. Ten commercial trials on sites over two years delivered increases in marketable fruit of between 0 and 10%, with water and fertiliser savings of between 4 and 23%. A cost benefit analysis of implementing the precision irrigation approach into commercial production is provided in the Exploitation Plan. Impact The outputs from this project will improve the economic and environmental sustainability of UK soft fruit production by delivering greater water, fertiliser and pesticide use efficiencies, improved plant health, higher marketable yields, better fruit quality and a reduction in waste. The system will also enable better time management of skilled and expert staff and it also offers the potential to control leaf canopy size so that ripe fruit can be found more readily, which could help to reduce picking costs. In addition to being directly transferrable to the UK raspberry industry (worth £124M in 2015), the innovative technology package developed in this project should be transferable to many other high-value horticultural sectors such as top and stone fruit, grape, protected edibles and protected ornamentals, hardy nursery stock, leafy salads and field vegetables. The provision of real-time data to farmers on crop health and productivity will help to improve on-farm decision making and production efficiency; in 2013, BGG estimated that increased sales of £1M could have been achieved in just one two-week period if growers' estimates of marketable yields were more accurate; a typical cropping season is 26 weeks. The fruit vision technology developed in this project will enable growers to maximise yield and value from their plantings, while improving overall crop quality and reducing food crop waste to a minimum. Increasing yield volume, quality and value in UK commercial plantings will increase UK crop sustainability, provide greater grower security through improved margins, improve wholesaler profitability through better contract negotiation and reduced spot buying costs, while improving choice and quality for the consumer at minimum cost. Business opportunities Two business opportunities have been identified: 1) to develop and sell the fruit vision system internationally; 2) to provide a Precision Irrigation service to UK soft fruit growers in the first instance. The size and value of the markets for each opportunity are potentially very large. The TRC anticipate achieving 25% penetration of the market within 5 years, (including 15 sales to consortium member farms) giving a total of 100 units at £30k each represents sales by the end of year 3 of £3M. A consortium consisting of Netafim UK Ltd, New Leaf Irrigation Ltd, Delta-T Devices Ltd and NIAB EMR have developed a business case for the PI service. Assuming a total of 120 PIP units installed over 5 years, total gross retail proceeds are estimated to be £4.3M, with significant returns for the consortium members. |
| Exploitation Route | As a result of this and other related projects, a Water Efficient Technologies (WET) Centre has been established at NIAB EMR to demonstrate how the outputs of this and other IUK-funded NIAB EMR projects can be incorporated into commercial-scale soft fruit production systems, Training on how to optimise the systems to achieve maximum benefits on-farm is being provided to grower and irrigation supplier staff; in addition, 1:1 on-farm support is being provided via the Precision Irrigation service (see below). This project has helped to facilitate the development of a unique Precision Irrigation (PI) service with members of the IREFQ consortium and their suppliers to sell to growers and producers. A consortium consisting of Netafim UK Ltd, New Leaf Irrigation Ltd, Delta-T Devices Ltd, and NIAB EMR have developed a business case for the PIP service, and sales in 2018 are currently being secured, supported in part by the Countryside Productivity Scheme grant scheme. Assuming a total of 120 PIP units installed over 5 years, total gross retail proceeds are estimated to be £4.3M, with significant returns for the consortium members. NIAB EMR's goal is to conduct high quality strategic and applied research in horticulture and environmental sciences and to deliver knowledge, products and services that benefit public and private customers. This project contributed to the ongoing achievement of this goal |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Electronics,Environment |
| Description | Achievements Each of the original goals of this project have been met. 1. Closed loop fertigation unit. Delta-T Devices Ltd and NIAB EMR developed and delivered a new innovative technology package that enables substrate strawberry growers to improve the precision of their irrigation and fertigation strategies to ensure optimum yields of high quality, Class 1 fruit and improved on-farm resource use efficiency. The package combines a GP2 Advanced Logger and Controller with temperature corrected substrate moisture sensors (Delta-T Devices Ltd), with detailed knowledge of how proprietary strawberry varieties respond to decreasing coir moisture availability (NIAB EMR). The proportional-integral-derivative (PID) function on the GP2 Advanced Logger and Controller was used to impose consistent water deficits on several commercial varieties grown in substrate on table-tops at NIAB EMR. Traditional but intensive measurements of physiological responses to limited substrate moisture content and/or high ECs were used to identify irrigation and fertigation set points for use in commercial trials. 2. Imaging system. The TRC carried out the testing, identification and validation of appropriate imagers capable of monitoring substrate crops at the leaf and canopy scales so that risks associated with scaling up can be managed effectively by commercial growers. A prototype imaging system to count fruit and assess ripeness was developed and then tested on commercial farms to determine its potential to provide real-time data to farmers on crop productivity. An additional deliverable was achieved whereby individual fruit size could be measured by the fruit vision system so that crop yield and quality under different irrigation and fertigation management regimes could be assessed. NIAB EMR determined the potential of using thermal imaging to detect very early physiological responses to abiotic and biotic stresses in cropping plants. The rise in leaf temperature caused by drought-induced stomatal closure is well known and was noted here, but we also found that infection with powdery mildew (Podosphaera aphanis) could be detected by thermal imaging three days before disease symptoms first became visible, and so could provide a useful early warning system for growers. There is the potential to develop this system further to help to inform on-farm decision-making and to enable commercial growers to manage the risks associated with scaling-up the precision irrigation approach, and we will seek follow-on funding to continue this work. NIAB EMR also assessed the potential of using hyperspectral imaging and modelling to develop non-destructive ways of assessing aspects of berry quality was also investigated. The optimum wavelengths needed to reliably predict fruit quality attributes and leaf physiological parameters varied with different strawberry varieties and although the technique shows great potential, further research work is needed to develop robust models that can be used to predict accurately fruit quality components. This work is being carried out by the NIAB EMR project team in a new IUK collaborative project "Vesca". 3. Informing irrigation strategies on commercial farms. NIAB EMR, Delta-T Devices Ltd and Netafim UK Ltd tested the potential of the precision irrigation system developed in this project to improve management decision making and on-farm production efficiency on five Berry Gardens commercial strawberry farms over two years. The GP2 Advanced Logger and Controller was linked to commercial fertigation rigs at each site using dry contacts or shortwave radio (Netafim UK Ltd) so that the water- and fertiliser-saving fertigation strategies developed at NIAB EMR could be integrated in to large-scale substrate production. Ten commercial trials on sites over two years delivered increases in marketable fruit of between 0 and 10%, with water and fertiliser savings of between 4 and 23%. A cost benefit analysis of implementing the precision irrigation approach into commercial production is provided in the Exploitation Plan. Impact The outputs from this project will improve the economic and environmental sustainability of UK soft fruit production by delivering greater water, fertiliser and pesticide use efficiencies, improved plant health, higher marketable yields, better fruit quality and a reduction in waste. The system will also enable better time management of skilled and expert staff and it also offers the potential to control leaf canopy size so that ripe fruit can be found more readily, which could help to reduce picking costs. In addition to being directly transferrable to the UK raspberry industry (worth £124M in 2015), the innovative technology package developed in this project should be transferable to many other high-value horticultural sectors such as top and stone fruit, grape, protected edibles and protected ornamentals, hardy nursery stock, leafy salads and field vegetables. The provision of real-time data to farmers on crop health and productivity will help to improve on-farm decision making and production efficiency; in 2013, BGG estimated that increased sales of £1M could have been achieved in just one two-week period if growers' estimates of marketable yields were more accurate; a typical cropping season is 26 weeks. The fruit vision technology developed in this project will enable growers to maximise yield and value from their plantings, while improving overall crop quality and reducing food crop waste to a minimum. Increasing yield volume, quality and value in UK commercial plantings will increase UK crop sustainability, provide greater grower security through improved margins, improve wholesaler profitability through better contract negotiation and reduced spot buying costs, while improving choice and quality for the consumer at minimum cost. Business opportunities Two business opportunities have been identified: 1) to develop and sell the fruit vision system internationally; 2) to provide a Precision Irrigation Package (PIP) service to UK soft fruit growers in the first instance. The size and value of the markets for each opportunity are potentially very large. The TRC anticipate achieving 25% penetration of the market within 5 years, (including 15 sales to consortium member farms) giving a total of 100 units at £30k each represents sales by the end of year 3 of £3M. A consortium consisting of Netafim UK Ltd, The Water Efficient Technologies (WET) Centre Following the completion of IUK 101623, NIAB EMR secured funding from industry partners to establish and run the WET Centre at NIAB EM. Our original business partners include Berry Gardens Growers Ltd, Cocogreen Ltd, Delta-T Devices Ltd, Netafim UK Ltd, New Leaf Irrigation Ltd. Start-up funding was also provided by Kent County Council and Southeast Water. Additional partners joining in 2018/2019 include H.L. Hutchinsons Ltd, the AHDB and Weatherquest Ltd. The primary aim of the WET Centre is to create and maintain a UK Centre of Excellence, to support the commercialisation and sales of an integrated portfolio of precision irrigation and other leading-edge technologies for the horticultural sector. To achieve this, the Centre is demonstrating to horticultural growers how adoption of these "Best Practice" technologies can help them to optimise their irrigation productivity and financial returns. It also provides them with the necessary support and training required for successful uptake and operation. A key target is to demonstrate on a commercial scale that by combining Precision Irrigation with other leading technologies in a key crop such as protected substrate-grown strawberry, growers can achieve high yields of flavoursome phytonutritious Class 1 fruit whilst using resources more efficiently. The Precision Irrigation Package (PIP) In addition, New Leaf Irrigation Ltd, Delta-T Devices Ltd and NIAB EMR have developed a business case for the PIP service. Our sales strategy is to target 13 of the 25 key soft fruit growers that together crop over 75% of the UK soft fruit hectarage. We are also targeting sales of 2 PIP units to each of 10 smaller growers with cropping areas less than 20 ha. Assuming the installation of 1 PIP unit per 4 ha, sales resulting from the installation of PIPs in new cropping areas, and retrofits to existing hectarage amount to 253 units by 2023. Based on this sales plan, the total revenue for PIP sales will be £0.5M over the next 4 years. In 2018, 13 PIP units were sold into the UK strawberry sector; 10 units in 2019 and a further sales of 13 units are expected in 2020. |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Electronics,Environment |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Description | IUK 101623 Further Funding |
| Amount | £354,403 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/R005583/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2017 |
| End | 06/2018 |
| Title | On-demand precision irrigation technologies help to deliver new low-input growing systems for fresh produce |
| Description | Sensors that measure temperature-corrected substrate volumetric moisture content (VMC) are connected to an Advanced Data Logger and Controller and are used to trach changes in VMC resulting from transpirational water loss. Outputs from up to nine sensors are averaged and used to trigger irrigation events automatically once an average substrate VMC reaches a predetermined value. Using this approach, substrate VMCs can be maintained within +/- 0.5% of upper and lower irrigation set points, and telemetry means that all data is available to view in a Cloud Report in real time. This approach helps to maintain the optimum range of substrate VMC throughout cropping thereby ensuring an efficient use of water and fertilizers, a consistent high yield of good quality fresh produce and also helps to reduce losses of water and fertilizers to land, air and water. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The tools and technologies for precision irrigation (PI) developed in this project are now used routinely in many projects carried out in the Crop Science and Production Systems Department at NIAB EMR. These project are funded via several funding bodies including the BBSRC, Innovate UK Smart scheme, the IUK Agri-Tech scheme, the AHDB, the Coca-Cola Foundation and in directly commissioned research from UK agri-businesses. These PI technologies are used routinely to match plant and crop water demand with supply under varying evaporative demands, different cropping stages and under different light environments, and in several different horticultural sectors including soft fruit, protected ornamentals and field vegetables, in the UK, in southern Spain and in sub-Saharan Africa. The PI technology is also being integrated with solutions to estimate concentrations of Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium in the rhizosphere including real-time sensors and a Fuzzy Logic Inference System, and with more accurate N-dosing rigs to better target N applications and reduce emissions to land, air and water. |
| Description | IREFQ IUK 101623 |
| Organisation | Berry Gardens Growers Limited |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | NIAB EMR is the leading perennial fruit crop research organisation in the UK and has key expertise in using detailed scientific understanding of plant responses to abiotic stresses to develop innovative water-and fertiliser-saving strategies for UK horticultural sectors. NIAB EMR provided the necessary underpinning science needed to identify new irrigation set points for commercial varieties and for the quantification of plant physiological responses and fruit quality components such as phytonutrient content. NIAB EMR carried out the hyperspectral imaging work with the aim of developing predictive models for non-destructive estimates of fruit quality attributes - this approach is being developed further in EP/R005583/1, and in a new ISCF IUK project to begin in 2017. NIAB EMR also set up and maintained the eight trials on BGG commercial grower sites over 2 years, and ensured that the Precision Irrigation system was fully integrated into the commercial production system at each site. This work is continuing under the BGG F&V Operational Programme, and a Precision Irrigation Package has been launched in 2017 as a commercial service to enable growers to improve on-farm resource use efficiency and productivity. This project has built on NIAB EMR's significant national and international reputation as a provider of high quality research into improving resource use efficiencies, marketable yields and produce quality in UK horticulture. NIAB EMR has developed a detailed scientific understanding of the hydraulic and hormonal regulation of plant responses to environmental stresses over the last 10 years and has used this knowledge in innovative ways to develop novel water- and fertiliser-savings strategies for several sectors of the UK horticulture industry, including soft fruit, tree fruit, hardy nursery stock, protected edibles, protected ornamental and mushrooms. The Precision Irrigation system developed in this project is transferrable to all irrigated high-value horticulture sectors in the UK and overseas. |
| Collaborator Contribution | BerryGardens Growers Ltd was the lead partner. Berry Gardens Growers Ltd is the UK's leading berry and stone fruit production and marketing group with sales in 2015 of £278 million, a market share in excess of 30% and a year-round business supplying the majority of Britain's leading retailers. BGG continue to co-ordinate consortium members' technical, financial and reporting contributions to ensure that all project objectives are met in full and are hosting the experimental work on their grower member's farms. Delta-T Devices Ltd currently design, manufacture (in the UK) and sell environmental science instrumentation in over 80 countries. Many of Delta-T's products are utilised by the research community to investigate the effects of climate change and improve water and fertigation resource management. The Technology Research Centre has a group of technologists and engineers with extensive industrial R&D experience, in device design & prototyping for image processing and robotics technology. Netafim UK Ltd (formerly Eden Irrigation Consultancy Ltd) has a wide ranging service offering to both growers and corporates in the irrigation industry, has key expertise in crop management technology and is the leading support company for precision control systems in the UK. |
| Impact | Project outputs and outcomes include: 1. An innovative closed loop Precision Irrigation system that will deliver significant on-farm water and fertiliser savings; 2. New knowledge and data on irrigation set points that will inform fertigation scheduling strategies on commercial farms; 3. A Water Efficient Technology Centre to be set up at NIAB EMR in 2017 to showcase the technologies developed in this and other projects; 4. A Precision Irrigation Package service for 2017 for soft fruit growers to improve on-farm resource use efficiency, productivity and profit margins; 5. An imaging system for real-time monitoring of berry development and prediction of Class 1 yields in commercial high value soft fruit production. 6. Further development of hyper/multispectral imaging as a tool to measure fruit quality attributes non-destructively in EP/R005583/1, and in a new ISCF IUK project to begin in 2017. |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | IREFQ IUK 101623 |
| Organisation | Delta T Devices Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | NIAB EMR is the leading perennial fruit crop research organisation in the UK and has key expertise in using detailed scientific understanding of plant responses to abiotic stresses to develop innovative water-and fertiliser-saving strategies for UK horticultural sectors. NIAB EMR provided the necessary underpinning science needed to identify new irrigation set points for commercial varieties and for the quantification of plant physiological responses and fruit quality components such as phytonutrient content. NIAB EMR carried out the hyperspectral imaging work with the aim of developing predictive models for non-destructive estimates of fruit quality attributes - this approach is being developed further in EP/R005583/1, and in a new ISCF IUK project to begin in 2017. NIAB EMR also set up and maintained the eight trials on BGG commercial grower sites over 2 years, and ensured that the Precision Irrigation system was fully integrated into the commercial production system at each site. This work is continuing under the BGG F&V Operational Programme, and a Precision Irrigation Package has been launched in 2017 as a commercial service to enable growers to improve on-farm resource use efficiency and productivity. This project has built on NIAB EMR's significant national and international reputation as a provider of high quality research into improving resource use efficiencies, marketable yields and produce quality in UK horticulture. NIAB EMR has developed a detailed scientific understanding of the hydraulic and hormonal regulation of plant responses to environmental stresses over the last 10 years and has used this knowledge in innovative ways to develop novel water- and fertiliser-savings strategies for several sectors of the UK horticulture industry, including soft fruit, tree fruit, hardy nursery stock, protected edibles, protected ornamental and mushrooms. The Precision Irrigation system developed in this project is transferrable to all irrigated high-value horticulture sectors in the UK and overseas. |
| Collaborator Contribution | BerryGardens Growers Ltd was the lead partner. Berry Gardens Growers Ltd is the UK's leading berry and stone fruit production and marketing group with sales in 2015 of £278 million, a market share in excess of 30% and a year-round business supplying the majority of Britain's leading retailers. BGG continue to co-ordinate consortium members' technical, financial and reporting contributions to ensure that all project objectives are met in full and are hosting the experimental work on their grower member's farms. Delta-T Devices Ltd currently design, manufacture (in the UK) and sell environmental science instrumentation in over 80 countries. Many of Delta-T's products are utilised by the research community to investigate the effects of climate change and improve water and fertigation resource management. The Technology Research Centre has a group of technologists and engineers with extensive industrial R&D experience, in device design & prototyping for image processing and robotics technology. Netafim UK Ltd (formerly Eden Irrigation Consultancy Ltd) has a wide ranging service offering to both growers and corporates in the irrigation industry, has key expertise in crop management technology and is the leading support company for precision control systems in the UK. |
| Impact | Project outputs and outcomes include: 1. An innovative closed loop Precision Irrigation system that will deliver significant on-farm water and fertiliser savings; 2. New knowledge and data on irrigation set points that will inform fertigation scheduling strategies on commercial farms; 3. A Water Efficient Technology Centre to be set up at NIAB EMR in 2017 to showcase the technologies developed in this and other projects; 4. A Precision Irrigation Package service for 2017 for soft fruit growers to improve on-farm resource use efficiency, productivity and profit margins; 5. An imaging system for real-time monitoring of berry development and prediction of Class 1 yields in commercial high value soft fruit production. 6. Further development of hyper/multispectral imaging as a tool to measure fruit quality attributes non-destructively in EP/R005583/1, and in a new ISCF IUK project to begin in 2017. |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | IREFQ IUK 101623 |
| Organisation | Netafim UK Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | NIAB EMR is the leading perennial fruit crop research organisation in the UK and has key expertise in using detailed scientific understanding of plant responses to abiotic stresses to develop innovative water-and fertiliser-saving strategies for UK horticultural sectors. NIAB EMR provided the necessary underpinning science needed to identify new irrigation set points for commercial varieties and for the quantification of plant physiological responses and fruit quality components such as phytonutrient content. NIAB EMR carried out the hyperspectral imaging work with the aim of developing predictive models for non-destructive estimates of fruit quality attributes - this approach is being developed further in EP/R005583/1, and in a new ISCF IUK project to begin in 2017. NIAB EMR also set up and maintained the eight trials on BGG commercial grower sites over 2 years, and ensured that the Precision Irrigation system was fully integrated into the commercial production system at each site. This work is continuing under the BGG F&V Operational Programme, and a Precision Irrigation Package has been launched in 2017 as a commercial service to enable growers to improve on-farm resource use efficiency and productivity. This project has built on NIAB EMR's significant national and international reputation as a provider of high quality research into improving resource use efficiencies, marketable yields and produce quality in UK horticulture. NIAB EMR has developed a detailed scientific understanding of the hydraulic and hormonal regulation of plant responses to environmental stresses over the last 10 years and has used this knowledge in innovative ways to develop novel water- and fertiliser-savings strategies for several sectors of the UK horticulture industry, including soft fruit, tree fruit, hardy nursery stock, protected edibles, protected ornamental and mushrooms. The Precision Irrigation system developed in this project is transferrable to all irrigated high-value horticulture sectors in the UK and overseas. |
| Collaborator Contribution | BerryGardens Growers Ltd was the lead partner. Berry Gardens Growers Ltd is the UK's leading berry and stone fruit production and marketing group with sales in 2015 of £278 million, a market share in excess of 30% and a year-round business supplying the majority of Britain's leading retailers. BGG continue to co-ordinate consortium members' technical, financial and reporting contributions to ensure that all project objectives are met in full and are hosting the experimental work on their grower member's farms. Delta-T Devices Ltd currently design, manufacture (in the UK) and sell environmental science instrumentation in over 80 countries. Many of Delta-T's products are utilised by the research community to investigate the effects of climate change and improve water and fertigation resource management. The Technology Research Centre has a group of technologists and engineers with extensive industrial R&D experience, in device design & prototyping for image processing and robotics technology. Netafim UK Ltd (formerly Eden Irrigation Consultancy Ltd) has a wide ranging service offering to both growers and corporates in the irrigation industry, has key expertise in crop management technology and is the leading support company for precision control systems in the UK. |
| Impact | Project outputs and outcomes include: 1. An innovative closed loop Precision Irrigation system that will deliver significant on-farm water and fertiliser savings; 2. New knowledge and data on irrigation set points that will inform fertigation scheduling strategies on commercial farms; 3. A Water Efficient Technology Centre to be set up at NIAB EMR in 2017 to showcase the technologies developed in this and other projects; 4. A Precision Irrigation Package service for 2017 for soft fruit growers to improve on-farm resource use efficiency, productivity and profit margins; 5. An imaging system for real-time monitoring of berry development and prediction of Class 1 yields in commercial high value soft fruit production. 6. Further development of hyper/multispectral imaging as a tool to measure fruit quality attributes non-destructively in EP/R005583/1, and in a new ISCF IUK project to begin in 2017. |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | IREFQ IUK 101623 |
| Organisation | The Technology Research Centre Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | NIAB EMR is the leading perennial fruit crop research organisation in the UK and has key expertise in using detailed scientific understanding of plant responses to abiotic stresses to develop innovative water-and fertiliser-saving strategies for UK horticultural sectors. NIAB EMR provided the necessary underpinning science needed to identify new irrigation set points for commercial varieties and for the quantification of plant physiological responses and fruit quality components such as phytonutrient content. NIAB EMR carried out the hyperspectral imaging work with the aim of developing predictive models for non-destructive estimates of fruit quality attributes - this approach is being developed further in EP/R005583/1, and in a new ISCF IUK project to begin in 2017. NIAB EMR also set up and maintained the eight trials on BGG commercial grower sites over 2 years, and ensured that the Precision Irrigation system was fully integrated into the commercial production system at each site. This work is continuing under the BGG F&V Operational Programme, and a Precision Irrigation Package has been launched in 2017 as a commercial service to enable growers to improve on-farm resource use efficiency and productivity. This project has built on NIAB EMR's significant national and international reputation as a provider of high quality research into improving resource use efficiencies, marketable yields and produce quality in UK horticulture. NIAB EMR has developed a detailed scientific understanding of the hydraulic and hormonal regulation of plant responses to environmental stresses over the last 10 years and has used this knowledge in innovative ways to develop novel water- and fertiliser-savings strategies for several sectors of the UK horticulture industry, including soft fruit, tree fruit, hardy nursery stock, protected edibles, protected ornamental and mushrooms. The Precision Irrigation system developed in this project is transferrable to all irrigated high-value horticulture sectors in the UK and overseas. |
| Collaborator Contribution | BerryGardens Growers Ltd was the lead partner. Berry Gardens Growers Ltd is the UK's leading berry and stone fruit production and marketing group with sales in 2015 of £278 million, a market share in excess of 30% and a year-round business supplying the majority of Britain's leading retailers. BGG continue to co-ordinate consortium members' technical, financial and reporting contributions to ensure that all project objectives are met in full and are hosting the experimental work on their grower member's farms. Delta-T Devices Ltd currently design, manufacture (in the UK) and sell environmental science instrumentation in over 80 countries. Many of Delta-T's products are utilised by the research community to investigate the effects of climate change and improve water and fertigation resource management. The Technology Research Centre has a group of technologists and engineers with extensive industrial R&D experience, in device design & prototyping for image processing and robotics technology. Netafim UK Ltd (formerly Eden Irrigation Consultancy Ltd) has a wide ranging service offering to both growers and corporates in the irrigation industry, has key expertise in crop management technology and is the leading support company for precision control systems in the UK. |
| Impact | Project outputs and outcomes include: 1. An innovative closed loop Precision Irrigation system that will deliver significant on-farm water and fertiliser savings; 2. New knowledge and data on irrigation set points that will inform fertigation scheduling strategies on commercial farms; 3. A Water Efficient Technology Centre to be set up at NIAB EMR in 2017 to showcase the technologies developed in this and other projects; 4. A Precision Irrigation Package service for 2017 for soft fruit growers to improve on-farm resource use efficiency, productivity and profit margins; 5. An imaging system for real-time monitoring of berry development and prediction of Class 1 yields in commercial high value soft fruit production. 6. Further development of hyper/multispectral imaging as a tool to measure fruit quality attributes non-destructively in EP/R005583/1, and in a new ISCF IUK project to begin in 2017. |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | IUK 102124 BerryDSS |
| Organisation | Berry Gardens Growers Limited |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | NIAB EMR is the leading perennial fruit crop research organisation in the UK and has key expertise in using detailed scientific understanding of plant and crop responses to environmental variables to develop accurate models of water use and yield forecasting for UK horticultural crops. NIAB EMR provided the underpinning science, facilities and equipment needed to: 1) test the robustness of the relationship between rate of change of substrate drying and changes in VPD; 2) develop precision fertigation formulations for proprietary varieties; 3) develop and test crop yield prediction models. Dr Else has experience and expertise in the scientific management of linked RTO-industry projects. |
| Collaborator Contribution | BerryGardens Growers Ltd is the UK's leading berry and stone fruit production and marketing group with sales in 2017 of £325 million, a market share in excess of 30% and a year-round business supplying most of Britain's top retailers. BGG co-ordinated partners' technical, financial and reporting inputs to ensure that all project milestones were met in full. BGG hosted the experimental trials on their member's farms in 2017 and 2018. Delta T Devices Ltd currently design, manufacture (in the UK) and sell environmental science instrumentation in over 80 countries and many products are utilised by researchers to investigate the effects of climate change and improve water and fertigation resource management. Weatherquest Ltd provides forecast services to agri-businesses and c. 500 farms. Integrating weather forecast information into soft fruit production management systems for the protection of resources, reduction of input costs, and management of disease and optimisation of crop scheduling is needed and achievable. Netafim UK Ltd are a non-grant seeking partner with key expertise in crop management technology and is the leading support company for precision control systems in the UK. Sub-contracts to NIAB EMR: Prof. Hadley (University of Reading) provided advice and guidance on using environmental metrics to predict cropping. The Technology Research Centre (TRC), did not provide the BerryVision System in good time and so we were unable to compare the accuracy with which the BerryVision system could predict ripening dates with the outputs from the variety-specific thermal time models developed in the project. |
| Impact | The project outcomes include: 1) An improved ability to match irrigation demand with supply during changeable weather using the relationship between rate of substrate drying and VPD to improve water and nutrient use efficiencies, and crop quality; 2) Bespoke fertiliser recipes that can be used in precision fertigation regimes tooptimise Class 1 yields, fruit quality and fertiliser use efficiency for proprietary varieties; 3) New variety-specific thermal time models to improve the accuracy of crop yield and harvesting forecasts to assure higher pricing and improved grower margins; 4) The use of weather probability forecasting to predict the aerial environment within polytunnels and to provide cummulative grower degree hour (GDH) data to inform and improve the thermal time models. 5) A BerryDSS that incorporates and enhances an existing commercial irrigation scheduling service (the PIP) to help growers to improve the economic, environmental and social sustainability of their businesses. Disciplines include: Plant physiology, soft fruit agronomy, mathematical modelling, meteorology, data science, hardware and software engineering |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | IUK 102124 BerryDSS |
| Organisation | Delta T Devices Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | NIAB EMR is the leading perennial fruit crop research organisation in the UK and has key expertise in using detailed scientific understanding of plant and crop responses to environmental variables to develop accurate models of water use and yield forecasting for UK horticultural crops. NIAB EMR provided the underpinning science, facilities and equipment needed to: 1) test the robustness of the relationship between rate of change of substrate drying and changes in VPD; 2) develop precision fertigation formulations for proprietary varieties; 3) develop and test crop yield prediction models. Dr Else has experience and expertise in the scientific management of linked RTO-industry projects. |
| Collaborator Contribution | BerryGardens Growers Ltd is the UK's leading berry and stone fruit production and marketing group with sales in 2017 of £325 million, a market share in excess of 30% and a year-round business supplying most of Britain's top retailers. BGG co-ordinated partners' technical, financial and reporting inputs to ensure that all project milestones were met in full. BGG hosted the experimental trials on their member's farms in 2017 and 2018. Delta T Devices Ltd currently design, manufacture (in the UK) and sell environmental science instrumentation in over 80 countries and many products are utilised by researchers to investigate the effects of climate change and improve water and fertigation resource management. Weatherquest Ltd provides forecast services to agri-businesses and c. 500 farms. Integrating weather forecast information into soft fruit production management systems for the protection of resources, reduction of input costs, and management of disease and optimisation of crop scheduling is needed and achievable. Netafim UK Ltd are a non-grant seeking partner with key expertise in crop management technology and is the leading support company for precision control systems in the UK. Sub-contracts to NIAB EMR: Prof. Hadley (University of Reading) provided advice and guidance on using environmental metrics to predict cropping. The Technology Research Centre (TRC), did not provide the BerryVision System in good time and so we were unable to compare the accuracy with which the BerryVision system could predict ripening dates with the outputs from the variety-specific thermal time models developed in the project. |
| Impact | The project outcomes include: 1) An improved ability to match irrigation demand with supply during changeable weather using the relationship between rate of substrate drying and VPD to improve water and nutrient use efficiencies, and crop quality; 2) Bespoke fertiliser recipes that can be used in precision fertigation regimes tooptimise Class 1 yields, fruit quality and fertiliser use efficiency for proprietary varieties; 3) New variety-specific thermal time models to improve the accuracy of crop yield and harvesting forecasts to assure higher pricing and improved grower margins; 4) The use of weather probability forecasting to predict the aerial environment within polytunnels and to provide cummulative grower degree hour (GDH) data to inform and improve the thermal time models. 5) A BerryDSS that incorporates and enhances an existing commercial irrigation scheduling service (the PIP) to help growers to improve the economic, environmental and social sustainability of their businesses. Disciplines include: Plant physiology, soft fruit agronomy, mathematical modelling, meteorology, data science, hardware and software engineering |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | IUK 102124 BerryDSS |
| Organisation | Netafim UK Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | NIAB EMR is the leading perennial fruit crop research organisation in the UK and has key expertise in using detailed scientific understanding of plant and crop responses to environmental variables to develop accurate models of water use and yield forecasting for UK horticultural crops. NIAB EMR provided the underpinning science, facilities and equipment needed to: 1) test the robustness of the relationship between rate of change of substrate drying and changes in VPD; 2) develop precision fertigation formulations for proprietary varieties; 3) develop and test crop yield prediction models. Dr Else has experience and expertise in the scientific management of linked RTO-industry projects. |
| Collaborator Contribution | BerryGardens Growers Ltd is the UK's leading berry and stone fruit production and marketing group with sales in 2017 of £325 million, a market share in excess of 30% and a year-round business supplying most of Britain's top retailers. BGG co-ordinated partners' technical, financial and reporting inputs to ensure that all project milestones were met in full. BGG hosted the experimental trials on their member's farms in 2017 and 2018. Delta T Devices Ltd currently design, manufacture (in the UK) and sell environmental science instrumentation in over 80 countries and many products are utilised by researchers to investigate the effects of climate change and improve water and fertigation resource management. Weatherquest Ltd provides forecast services to agri-businesses and c. 500 farms. Integrating weather forecast information into soft fruit production management systems for the protection of resources, reduction of input costs, and management of disease and optimisation of crop scheduling is needed and achievable. Netafim UK Ltd are a non-grant seeking partner with key expertise in crop management technology and is the leading support company for precision control systems in the UK. Sub-contracts to NIAB EMR: Prof. Hadley (University of Reading) provided advice and guidance on using environmental metrics to predict cropping. The Technology Research Centre (TRC), did not provide the BerryVision System in good time and so we were unable to compare the accuracy with which the BerryVision system could predict ripening dates with the outputs from the variety-specific thermal time models developed in the project. |
| Impact | The project outcomes include: 1) An improved ability to match irrigation demand with supply during changeable weather using the relationship between rate of substrate drying and VPD to improve water and nutrient use efficiencies, and crop quality; 2) Bespoke fertiliser recipes that can be used in precision fertigation regimes tooptimise Class 1 yields, fruit quality and fertiliser use efficiency for proprietary varieties; 3) New variety-specific thermal time models to improve the accuracy of crop yield and harvesting forecasts to assure higher pricing and improved grower margins; 4) The use of weather probability forecasting to predict the aerial environment within polytunnels and to provide cummulative grower degree hour (GDH) data to inform and improve the thermal time models. 5) A BerryDSS that incorporates and enhances an existing commercial irrigation scheduling service (the PIP) to help growers to improve the economic, environmental and social sustainability of their businesses. Disciplines include: Plant physiology, soft fruit agronomy, mathematical modelling, meteorology, data science, hardware and software engineering |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | IUK 102124 BerryDSS |
| Organisation | Weatherquest Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | NIAB EMR is the leading perennial fruit crop research organisation in the UK and has key expertise in using detailed scientific understanding of plant and crop responses to environmental variables to develop accurate models of water use and yield forecasting for UK horticultural crops. NIAB EMR provided the underpinning science, facilities and equipment needed to: 1) test the robustness of the relationship between rate of change of substrate drying and changes in VPD; 2) develop precision fertigation formulations for proprietary varieties; 3) develop and test crop yield prediction models. Dr Else has experience and expertise in the scientific management of linked RTO-industry projects. |
| Collaborator Contribution | BerryGardens Growers Ltd is the UK's leading berry and stone fruit production and marketing group with sales in 2017 of £325 million, a market share in excess of 30% and a year-round business supplying most of Britain's top retailers. BGG co-ordinated partners' technical, financial and reporting inputs to ensure that all project milestones were met in full. BGG hosted the experimental trials on their member's farms in 2017 and 2018. Delta T Devices Ltd currently design, manufacture (in the UK) and sell environmental science instrumentation in over 80 countries and many products are utilised by researchers to investigate the effects of climate change and improve water and fertigation resource management. Weatherquest Ltd provides forecast services to agri-businesses and c. 500 farms. Integrating weather forecast information into soft fruit production management systems for the protection of resources, reduction of input costs, and management of disease and optimisation of crop scheduling is needed and achievable. Netafim UK Ltd are a non-grant seeking partner with key expertise in crop management technology and is the leading support company for precision control systems in the UK. Sub-contracts to NIAB EMR: Prof. Hadley (University of Reading) provided advice and guidance on using environmental metrics to predict cropping. The Technology Research Centre (TRC), did not provide the BerryVision System in good time and so we were unable to compare the accuracy with which the BerryVision system could predict ripening dates with the outputs from the variety-specific thermal time models developed in the project. |
| Impact | The project outcomes include: 1) An improved ability to match irrigation demand with supply during changeable weather using the relationship between rate of substrate drying and VPD to improve water and nutrient use efficiencies, and crop quality; 2) Bespoke fertiliser recipes that can be used in precision fertigation regimes tooptimise Class 1 yields, fruit quality and fertiliser use efficiency for proprietary varieties; 3) New variety-specific thermal time models to improve the accuracy of crop yield and harvesting forecasts to assure higher pricing and improved grower margins; 4) The use of weather probability forecasting to predict the aerial environment within polytunnels and to provide cummulative grower degree hour (GDH) data to inform and improve the thermal time models. 5) A BerryDSS that incorporates and enhances an existing commercial irrigation scheduling service (the PIP) to help growers to improve the economic, environmental and social sustainability of their businesses. Disciplines include: Plant physiology, soft fruit agronomy, mathematical modelling, meteorology, data science, hardware and software engineering |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | RaspResil 2017-2021 |
| Organisation | Berry Gardens Growers Limited |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Dr Else's team has expertise in developing and deploying scientifically-derived guidelines to improve resource acquisition and use efficiency, increase crop yields and quality and enhance resilience to environmental stresses. We are investigating the potential of using AMF to improve resource acquisition and stress resilience, developing Transient Deficit Irrigation (TDI) as a tool to control cane vigour without reducing yields, thereby reducing labour and production costs, using stress pre-conditioning to improve crop resilience to abiotic and biotic stresses, and delivering automated, real-time precision fertigation control into commercial production using an virtual sensor platform integrated with the Decision Support System (DSS) being developed in IUK 102124. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Berry Gardens Growers Ltd (BGG) is the UK's leading berry and stone fruit production and marketing group with sales in 2016 of £329 million, a market share in excess of 30% and a year-round business supplying Britain's top retailers. BGG will co-ordinate partners' technical, financial and reporting inputs to ensure that all project milestones are met in full and will host the experimental trials on four of their member's farms. Environmental Monitoring Solutions (EMS) is at the forefront of nutrient measurement technologies and is project lead in IUK 101824; and the company is aware of the state-of-the-art and applicability of current technologies for the monitoring of NO3 and PO4. Plantworks Ltd (PW) is a leading horticultural firm that specialises in biologically active solutions and is project lead in IUK 101920. The company has core competencies in microbiology, administration, marketing, packaging, engineering and logistics, and is the only UK producer of AMF with an annual output of 100 tonnes sold into farming and gardening. PW has supported contemporary research in the field of AMF through collaborations and product supply for UK universities as well as advising many large companies on the use of biological active products, and has access to 6000 sq. ft of glasshouse and 5000 sq. feet of laboratory and production area. Netafim UK Ltd (NUK) is a non-grant seeking partner with key expertise in crop management technology and is the leading support company for precision control systems in the UK. |
| Impact | Recommendations to the BGG Agronomy Team and BGG commercial growers include: The use of transient wilting to control cane vigour is not recommended The effects on cane vigour are variable Class 1 yields will be reduced Reducing Nitrogen and water inputs is a better strategy to control cane vigour Transient wilting cannot be used a pre-conditioning treatment to improve resilience to subsequent coir drying episodes Legacy effects of unintended coir drying events could be significant, with photosynthesis remaining suppressed for 2-4 weeks Negative effects on berry size, dry matter production, quality (colour reversion) are likely Irrigation on commercial plantings must be optimised to avoid transient coir drying episodes and the resulting shoot water deficits to avoid stress legacy effects and to ensure high yields of quality berries. The use of 4 L pots for commercial raspberry crops is likely to result in unplanned stress episodes and subsequent legacy effects, and is therefore not recommended. Inoculating root systems with AMF does not bring measurable benefits Inoculation with either a consortium of AMF species or a single AMF species did not improve resource acquisition under a sub-optimal fertigation regime Class 1 yield penalties under sub-optimal fertigation regimes were not ameliorated by inoculation with AMF Class 1 yields were sometimes reduced in AMF-treated Maravilla The potential to reduce Nitrogen inputs to limit cane vigour without affecting berry yields and quality is being investigated on IUK 51135 where N-demand models, precision N dosing, and real-time NPK sensors are being integrated to better target water, and N inputs. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | RaspResil 2017-2021 |
| Organisation | Environmental Monitoring Solutions Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Dr Else's team has expertise in developing and deploying scientifically-derived guidelines to improve resource acquisition and use efficiency, increase crop yields and quality and enhance resilience to environmental stresses. We are investigating the potential of using AMF to improve resource acquisition and stress resilience, developing Transient Deficit Irrigation (TDI) as a tool to control cane vigour without reducing yields, thereby reducing labour and production costs, using stress pre-conditioning to improve crop resilience to abiotic and biotic stresses, and delivering automated, real-time precision fertigation control into commercial production using an virtual sensor platform integrated with the Decision Support System (DSS) being developed in IUK 102124. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Berry Gardens Growers Ltd (BGG) is the UK's leading berry and stone fruit production and marketing group with sales in 2016 of £329 million, a market share in excess of 30% and a year-round business supplying Britain's top retailers. BGG will co-ordinate partners' technical, financial and reporting inputs to ensure that all project milestones are met in full and will host the experimental trials on four of their member's farms. Environmental Monitoring Solutions (EMS) is at the forefront of nutrient measurement technologies and is project lead in IUK 101824; and the company is aware of the state-of-the-art and applicability of current technologies for the monitoring of NO3 and PO4. Plantworks Ltd (PW) is a leading horticultural firm that specialises in biologically active solutions and is project lead in IUK 101920. The company has core competencies in microbiology, administration, marketing, packaging, engineering and logistics, and is the only UK producer of AMF with an annual output of 100 tonnes sold into farming and gardening. PW has supported contemporary research in the field of AMF through collaborations and product supply for UK universities as well as advising many large companies on the use of biological active products, and has access to 6000 sq. ft of glasshouse and 5000 sq. feet of laboratory and production area. Netafim UK Ltd (NUK) is a non-grant seeking partner with key expertise in crop management technology and is the leading support company for precision control systems in the UK. |
| Impact | Recommendations to the BGG Agronomy Team and BGG commercial growers include: The use of transient wilting to control cane vigour is not recommended The effects on cane vigour are variable Class 1 yields will be reduced Reducing Nitrogen and water inputs is a better strategy to control cane vigour Transient wilting cannot be used a pre-conditioning treatment to improve resilience to subsequent coir drying episodes Legacy effects of unintended coir drying events could be significant, with photosynthesis remaining suppressed for 2-4 weeks Negative effects on berry size, dry matter production, quality (colour reversion) are likely Irrigation on commercial plantings must be optimised to avoid transient coir drying episodes and the resulting shoot water deficits to avoid stress legacy effects and to ensure high yields of quality berries. The use of 4 L pots for commercial raspberry crops is likely to result in unplanned stress episodes and subsequent legacy effects, and is therefore not recommended. Inoculating root systems with AMF does not bring measurable benefits Inoculation with either a consortium of AMF species or a single AMF species did not improve resource acquisition under a sub-optimal fertigation regime Class 1 yield penalties under sub-optimal fertigation regimes were not ameliorated by inoculation with AMF Class 1 yields were sometimes reduced in AMF-treated Maravilla The potential to reduce Nitrogen inputs to limit cane vigour without affecting berry yields and quality is being investigated on IUK 51135 where N-demand models, precision N dosing, and real-time NPK sensors are being integrated to better target water, and N inputs. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | RaspResil 2017-2021 |
| Organisation | Plantworks Ltd UK |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Dr Else's team has expertise in developing and deploying scientifically-derived guidelines to improve resource acquisition and use efficiency, increase crop yields and quality and enhance resilience to environmental stresses. We are investigating the potential of using AMF to improve resource acquisition and stress resilience, developing Transient Deficit Irrigation (TDI) as a tool to control cane vigour without reducing yields, thereby reducing labour and production costs, using stress pre-conditioning to improve crop resilience to abiotic and biotic stresses, and delivering automated, real-time precision fertigation control into commercial production using an virtual sensor platform integrated with the Decision Support System (DSS) being developed in IUK 102124. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Berry Gardens Growers Ltd (BGG) is the UK's leading berry and stone fruit production and marketing group with sales in 2016 of £329 million, a market share in excess of 30% and a year-round business supplying Britain's top retailers. BGG will co-ordinate partners' technical, financial and reporting inputs to ensure that all project milestones are met in full and will host the experimental trials on four of their member's farms. Environmental Monitoring Solutions (EMS) is at the forefront of nutrient measurement technologies and is project lead in IUK 101824; and the company is aware of the state-of-the-art and applicability of current technologies for the monitoring of NO3 and PO4. Plantworks Ltd (PW) is a leading horticultural firm that specialises in biologically active solutions and is project lead in IUK 101920. The company has core competencies in microbiology, administration, marketing, packaging, engineering and logistics, and is the only UK producer of AMF with an annual output of 100 tonnes sold into farming and gardening. PW has supported contemporary research in the field of AMF through collaborations and product supply for UK universities as well as advising many large companies on the use of biological active products, and has access to 6000 sq. ft of glasshouse and 5000 sq. feet of laboratory and production area. Netafim UK Ltd (NUK) is a non-grant seeking partner with key expertise in crop management technology and is the leading support company for precision control systems in the UK. |
| Impact | Recommendations to the BGG Agronomy Team and BGG commercial growers include: The use of transient wilting to control cane vigour is not recommended The effects on cane vigour are variable Class 1 yields will be reduced Reducing Nitrogen and water inputs is a better strategy to control cane vigour Transient wilting cannot be used a pre-conditioning treatment to improve resilience to subsequent coir drying episodes Legacy effects of unintended coir drying events could be significant, with photosynthesis remaining suppressed for 2-4 weeks Negative effects on berry size, dry matter production, quality (colour reversion) are likely Irrigation on commercial plantings must be optimised to avoid transient coir drying episodes and the resulting shoot water deficits to avoid stress legacy effects and to ensure high yields of quality berries. The use of 4 L pots for commercial raspberry crops is likely to result in unplanned stress episodes and subsequent legacy effects, and is therefore not recommended. Inoculating root systems with AMF does not bring measurable benefits Inoculation with either a consortium of AMF species or a single AMF species did not improve resource acquisition under a sub-optimal fertigation regime Class 1 yield penalties under sub-optimal fertigation regimes were not ameliorated by inoculation with AMF Class 1 yields were sometimes reduced in AMF-treated Maravilla The potential to reduce Nitrogen inputs to limit cane vigour without affecting berry yields and quality is being investigated on IUK 51135 where N-demand models, precision N dosing, and real-time NPK sensors are being integrated to better target water, and N inputs. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Fruit Focus 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | NIAB EMR's research work in precision growing of soft fruit crops was showcased in the Water Efficient Technologies (WET) Centre during Fruit Focus 2017. The WET Centre was officially opened by the Rt Hon. George Eustice, Minister of State at DEFRA. Four formal tours were held throughout the day, and three interviews were given by NIAB EMR staff for local television. Project outputs from IUK 101623, 102144 and 102640 were presented at the fruit Focus Forum in July 2018, and demonstrated in the WET Centre during x4 sessions during Fruit Focus 2019. Project outputs from IUK 101623, 102144 and 102640 were demonstrated in the WET Centre during x4 sessions during Fruit Focus 2019. Outputs from these research projects were also presented at the on-line Fruit Focus event in 2020. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018,2019,2020 |
| URL | https://www.thewetcentre.com |
| Description | IREFQ IUK 101623 Consortium meetings 2014-2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | IREFQ 101623 Kick-off meeting, EMR, 14 April 2014; Q1 meeting, EMR, 11 June 2014; Q2 meeting, EMR, 11 September 2014; Q3 meeting, EMR, 11 December 2014; Q4 meeting, EMR, 6 March 2015; Q5 meeting, EMR, 2 June 2015; Q6 meeting, EMR, 8 September 2015; Q7 meeting, EMR, 9 December 2015, NIAB EMR; Q8 meeting, EMR, 11 March 2016, NIAB EMR; Q9 meeting, EMR, 6 June 2016, NIAB EMR; Q10 meeting, EMR, 6 September 2016, NIAB EMR; Q11 meeting, NIAB EMR, 7 December 2016, The TRC, Q12 meeting NIAB EMR, 30 March 2017, Close out meeting, NIAB EMR, 11 May 2017. In addition, ad-hoc meetings with consortium members are arranged to discuss and resolve any issues or concerns that have been highlighted in the quarterly project meetings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2016,2017 |
| Description | IREFQ IUK 101623 Presentations made at National and International Conferences 2014-2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Discussion of project aims and objectives with industry and demonstration of the technological approaches being used at: EMR experimental site. Fruit Focus, EMR, 23 July 2014; BGG Technical Day 5 November 2014; BGG ASDA Science Day January 2015 Waitrose Science Day, 22 February 2015; Institute of Agricultural Engineers' Annual Conference (May 2015); AAB Knowledge Exchange Conference 20 June 2015, Lancaster University; BBG Agronomy Team meeting, 21 July 2015, EMR; BGG Agronomy Team meeting, 22 July 2015, EMR; Fruit Focus 2015, 22 July 2015, EMR; Driscoll's Rubus Conference, 12 August 2015, Ashford; "Innovation in Agri-Tech" event, 12 October 2015, Royal Academy of Engineering, London; Delta-T "SPAC" Conference, 13 October 2015, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden; BGG Technical Day, 19 November 2015, Ashford; 'Innovation in Agriculture' Workshop, Canada House, 18 January 2016, London; AHDB Soft Fruit Agronomists' Day, 11 February 2016, NIAB EMR; Waitrose Science Day, 24 February 2016, University of Warwick; BG Agronomy Group meeting, 20 April 2016, NIAB EMR; at Kelsey Farms Ltd to Consortium members and discussion of plans to retrofit the PI system into the entire soft fruit production area, BG Agronomy and Grower meeting, 6 June 2016; at Kelsey Farms Ltd; Precision Irrigation event organised by Jon Marcar (Head BG Agronomy Team) 10 August 2016; BG Technical Day, 17 November 2016, Ashford; AHDB Soft Fruit Day, 22 November 2016, NIAB EMR. Launch of the "WET" Centre and Precision Irrigation Package at the BG Technical Day, 17 November 2016, Ashford. The Fruit Focus Forum, Fruit Focus 2018, 25 July 2018, NIAB EMR Demonstration of project outputs at the WET Centre, Fruit Focus 2018, 25 July 2918, NIAB EMR The WET Centre Q3 Review Meeting, 16 October 2018, NIAB EMR The AHDB Soft Fruit Day, 21 November 2018, NIAB EMR. The BGG Technical Day, 6 December 2018, Ashford, Kent The UKIA Spring Conference, 28 February 2019, East of England Show Ground, Peterborough The AHDB SmartHort Conference, 6-7 March 2019, Stratford-upon-Avon the Teagasc Berry Seminar, 25 April 2019, Dublin; The J. Hort. Sci & Biotech. Centenary event, 7-8 May 2019, Wellesbourne; The Berry Gardens M&S Science Day, 12 June 2019, NIAB EMR; The AHDB Agronomists' Day, 9 September 2019, NIAB EMR; The H.L. Hutchinsons' Agronomy Day 10 October 2019, NIAB EMR; The BGG Agronomy Day, 14 November 2019, Ashford, Kent; The visits by x2 Chinese delegations, 7 and 13 November 2019, NIAB EMR; The AHDB Soft Fruit Day 20 November 2019, NIAB EMR. The AHDB WET Centre webinar, 2 July 2020; The Fruit Focus Live webinars, 9 &10 September; The AHDB Non chemical Growth Control webinar, 25 September, 2020; The BGG Research and Agronomy Day, 11 November 2020; The AHDB WET Centre webinar, 15 December 2020. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020 |
| Description | IUK 102124 Berry DSS Presentations at Regional, National and International meetings / Conferences 2016-2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Discussion of project aims and objectives with industry and demonstration of the technological approaches being used at: The 'Innovation in Agriculture' Workshop, Canada House, 18 January 2016, London; The AHDB Soft Fruit Agronomists' Day, 11 February 2016, NIAB EMR; The Waitrose Science Day, 24 February 2016, University of Warwick; The BG Agronomy Group meeting, 20 April 2016, NIAB EMR; Kelsey Farms Ltd to Consortium members, 6 June 2016; Kelsey Farms Ltd to the BG Agronomy Team and BG growers at a Precision Irrigation event organised by Jon Marcar (Head BG Agronomy Team)10 August 2016; The BGG Technical Day, 17 November 2016, Ashford; The AHDB Soft Fruit Day, 22 November 2016, NIAB EMR. The Fruit Focus Forum, Fruit Focus 2018, 25 July 2018, NIAB EMR Demonstration of project outputs at the WET Centre, Fruit Focus 2018, 25 July 2918, NIAB EMR The WET Centre Q3 Review Meeting, 16 October 2018, NIAB EMR The AHDB Soft Fruit Day, 21 November 2018, NIAB EMR. The BGG Technical Day, 6 December 2018, Ashford, Kent The UKIA Spring Conference, 28 February 2019, East of England Show Ground, Peterborough The AHDB SmartHort Conference, 6-7 March 2019, Stratford-upon-Avon The Teagasc Berry Seminar, 25 April 2019, Dublin; The J. Hort. Sci & Biotech. Centenary event, 7-8 May 2019, Wellesbourne; The Berry Gardens M&S Science Day, 12 June 2019, NIAB EMR; The AHDB Agronomists' Day, 9 September 2019, NIAB EMR; The H.L. Hutchinson's Agronomy Day 10 October 2019, NIAB EMR; The BGG Agronomy Day, 14 November 2019, Ashford, Kent; The visits by x2 Chinese delegations, 7 and 13 November 2019, NIAB EMR; The AHDB Soft Fruit Day 20 November 2019, NIAB EMR; The AHDB WET Centre webinar, 2 July 2020; The Fruit Focus Live webinar, 9 &10 September; The AHDB Non chemical Growth Control webinar, 25 September, 2020; The BGG Research and Agronomy Day, 11 November 2020. The AHDB WET Centre webinar, 15 December 2020. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018,2019,2020 |
| Description | Industry and stakeholder visits to the WET Centre at NIAB EMR 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The Water Efficient Technologies (WET) Centre Following the completion of IUK 101623, NIAB EMR secured funding from industry partners to establish and run the WET Centre at NIAB EM. Our original business partners include Berry Gardens Growers Ltd, Cocogreen Ltd, Delta-T Devices Ltd, Netafim UK Ltd, New Leaf Irrigation Ltd. Start-up funding was also provided by Kent County Council and Southeast Water. Additional partners joining in 2018/2019 include H.L. Hutchinsons Ltd, the AHDB and Weatherquest Ltd. The primary aim of the WET Centre is to create and maintain a UK Centre of Excellence, to support the commercialisation and sales of an integrated portfolio of precision irrigation and other leading-edge technologies for the horticultural sector. To achieve this, the Centre is demonstrating to horticultural growers how adoption of these "Best Practice" technologies can help them to optimise their irrigation productivity and financial returns. It also provides them with the necessary support and training required for successful uptake and operation. A key target is to demonstrate on a commercial scale that by combining Precision Irrigation with other leading technologies in a key crop such as protected substrate-grown strawberry, growers can achieve high yields of flavoursome phytonutritious Class 1 fruit whilst using resources more efficiently. Visitors to the WET Centre in 2017 included the Berry Gardens Grower Research Awards Panel, Kent County Council, members of the SAI platform, and the Ferdonana project team. NIAB EMR's research on linking scientific knowledge of plant and crop physiology with innovative technologies to improve the precision, resource use efficiency and productivity of UK soft fruit production was presented and discussed. Visitors to the WET Centre in 2018 included x25 visitors for the LEAF Innovation Centre Launch, the CEO and the KE Technical Manager of the AHDB, the AHDB Comms team, Kent County Council, HL Hutchinson Ltd, Duard Cloete of In2Food, the BerryDSS Project Consortium, ~120 visitors in x4 Demonstrations at Fruit Focus, a group of visiting Swedish Agronomists, and international clients of Netafim UK Ltd and CocoGreen Ltd. Visitors to the WET Centre in 2019 included: BGG and Driscoll's, 16 April 2019; Lord Selborne, Nigel Kirby, Tina Barsby, 17 April 2019; WET Centre Consortium visit, 30 April 2019; Holistic Water for Horticulture Launch event, 1 May 2019; Dutch soft fruit growers 20 May 2019; NIAB Board of Directors, 23 May 2019; BG M&S Science Day, 12 June 2019; Star Produce Visit, 19 June 2019; NIAB EMR Innovations Day, 21 June 2019; Kent Lieutenancy visit, 28 June 2019; ~130 visitors in x4 Demonstrations and throughout Fruit Focus 2019, visit by the GCRF SASSA-SAI Consortium, 22 July 2019; visit by SAI Platform / Coca-Cola Foundation 2 consortium and Spanish Soft fruit Growers, 29 July 2019; the AHDB Agronomists' Day, 11 September 2019; H.L. Hutchinson's Agronomists, 9 September 2019; Chinese Delegations 7 November and 13 November 2019. In-person visits in 2020 were limited due to the Covid-19 pandemic but the work being carried out at the WET Centre resulting from various IUK-funded projects was demonstrated to Dr Katrina Hayter, Industrial Challenge Strategy Director, during a socially-distanced visit to NIAB EMR on 29 July 2020. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018,2019 |
| URL | https://www.thewetcentre.com |
| Description | Precision Irrigation trials at ADESVA, Spain 2018-2019, 2019-2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The PIP technology developed from IUK 101623 and enhanced by outputs from 102124 is currently being tested at the ADESVA Research Institute, Huelva, Spain. The PIP system is being used in substrate table-top strawberry production to try to improve the water and fertiliser use efficiencies of soft fruit production in the Donana and Huelva regions in Spain. The potential for water and fertiliser savings achieved by implementing the PIP are being compared to those achieved with a monitoring system installed by a local provider. We are also comparing the production efficiency of substrate strawberry production with that of soil-grown production in the region. The project is co-funded by the SAI Platform and the Coca-Cola Foundation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019,2020 |
| URL | http://www.ferdonana.es/en |
| Description | Presentation of project outputs at the AHDB Soft Fruit Day Webinar 18 Nov 2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | A presentation entitled "How the UK soft fruit industry is building resilience to water-related risks" was made at the AHDB Soft Fruit Day event held on line on 18 November 2020. Following an introduction to the project's aims and objectives, the outcomes from NIAB EMR's interviews with 30 Soft fruit growers were presented and discussed. Strategies to better mitigate against seasonal water shortages included building reservoirs, sinking new bore holes, extending water storage capacity, installing RWH systems, using sensor technologies and automation to improve irrigation scheduling to better meet crop demand for water with supply. There were few concerns amongst the growers about an increased reliance on technologies, but they did specify that further support and training will be needed. Overall, the take home message was that those growers who are prepared to invest in technologies will be more resilient to future changes, challenges, and shocks. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | RaspResil BGG Technical Day Presentations 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | An overview of the project aims. objectives and outputs was included in a presentation made at the Berry Gardens Technical Conference in November 2017, in December 2018, and in November 2019 at the usual venue in Ashford, Kent. In 2020, the BGG Research and Agronomy Day was held on-line on 11 November 2020, and how the outputs from this project are being used in IUK 105542 was presented. A presentation describing the outputs from this project. how they are being exploited in IUK 51135 and how they are being used to inform R&D work at NIAB EMR commissioned by industry was presented to staff from Driscoll's Genetics Ltd on 28 January 2021. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018,2019,2020,2021 |
| Description | SAI Platform Meetings 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | NIAB EMR's research into improving the production efficiency in the UK soft fruit industry was presented to members of the SAI Platform and the Ferdonana project team. The approaches and techniques developed by NIAB EMR have great potential for use in the Donana region of Spain to help to improve the efficiency with which irrigation water is used to produce berries on commercial farms. in 2018, the Precision Irrigation Package (PIP) developed from IUK 101623 is currently being tested at ADESVA, a research institute nr Huelva, Spain. The PIP system is being used in substrate table-top soft fruit production to test the potential to improve water and fertiliser use efficiencies in soft fruit production. The PIP is being compared to an irrigation monitoring system supplied by a local provider. The work is funded jointly by the AI Platform and a grant from the Coca-Cola Foundation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
| Description | WET Centre Training courses for BGG growers and agronomists |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Two training courses on how to improve irrigation scheduling and water and fertiliser use efficiencies in UK substrate-grown soft fruit production were held at NIAB EMR on 18 and 19 January 2018. The outputs from IUK IREFQ, BerryDSS and RaspResil projects were presented to, and discussed with, Berry Gardens growers and agronomists. Project outputs were also included in presentations to various agronomy teams including those at Berry Gardens and HL Hutchinson's and at the AHDB Agronomy Days held at the WET Centre in 2018 and 2019. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019,2020 |
| Description | presentation at Fruit Focus 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Project outputs that have been implemented into the WET Centre at NIAB EMR were demonstrated and discussed during four official tours at Fruit Focus 2021. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |