FERTINNOWA held the second international conference in Delft on the 15th of November 2017. The project coordinator Els Berckmoes gave a short introduction on the project and the results so far

1. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 689687
Els Berckmoes
World Horticenter
15 November 2017
An introduction to the FERTINNOWA
thematic network

2. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 689687
 Type of action: Thematic network (no research!)
 Transfer of innovative water technologies in fertigated crops
 Focus: fertigated crops (vegetables, fruits & ornamentals)
 Start: 01/01/2016 – 31/12 /2018
 23 partners + 2 Linked third parties
FERTINNOWA’s passport

3. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 689687

4. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 689687
Why is there a need for a thematic network?
2012-2013: a European benchmark study revealed that :
1. growers struggle to
• achieve sufficient and qualitative irrigation water
• use irrigation water in an more efficient way
• avoid run-off leaching and manage waste fertigated
water.
2. knowledge & innovative technologies are available
but are not implemented by the growers.
FERTINNOWA

5. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 689687
FERTINNOWA concept
Bottom-up approach
Number of possible
solutions available in EU
Could it work ? (technological,
socio-economic, regulatory?)
Growers in country A
experience a water problem

6. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 689687
• 371 grower’s interviews carried out in Europe & South-Africa
• 513 cropping systems
• Focus on:
• Technologies applied
• Technological, socio-economic and
legislative bottlenecks & barriers
regarding
- water sources
- water use efficiency
- reducing environmental impact
Step 1: mapping the current situation

7. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 689687
Step 1: mapping the current situation
• One of the outcomes: problems related to water storage
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Central-East Mediterranean North-West
Reported problems by climatic region
Somme de Total_Other
Somme de Total_Sediments
Somme de Total_leaking
Somme de Total_algae

8. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 689687
What keeps growers from closing the water and
nutrient cycle further ?
Source: FERTINNOWA Benchmark study: Based on the answers of 371 growers
Economics
Policy
Technological

9. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 689687
Step 2: evaluating the current situation
• 134 technological review documents = evaluation of the
technology at different levels:
• technological
• socio-economic
• regulatory
• regional
• Some examples of TRD’s:

10. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 689687
Step 3: solving problems by exchange of
knowledge/technologies
1. What can we learn from each
other ?
 Collective consultations (growers,
advisors, policymakers, industry,
…)
 Workshops….
2. Actual exchange of technologies
from one region/crop/system to
another in order to solve problems on
a short term.

11. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 689687
Sodium removal
Sustainable
watersources
Irrigation communities
Water storage problems
Water storage dimensionsAlgae
Increase wateruse efficiency
Increase nutrient use efficiency
DSS irrigation
DSS fertigation
Filtration technologies
Limitations ground water
Implementation water
framework directive
Salinity management
New technologies (thinking out of the box)
Economic comparison
Regulatory comparison
Technological comparison
… and many more
Nutrient recovery (N, P, …)
End of pipe solutions

12. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 689687
• Technology database (PA +TRD)
• Website www.FERTINNOWA.com
• E-newsletter (7 languages)
• Showcase events
• Workshops
• Articles on general and trade press
Step 4: bridging the gap between knowledge and
implementation

13. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 689687
FERTINNOWA Technology database
FERTINNOWA
themes
FERTINNOWA
sub-topics

14. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 689687
Technology database
Mini online survey
Live results

15. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 689687
Follow the technology exchanges online!