The first results of FERTINNOWA was presented the network of the European Regions for Innovation in Agriculture, Food and Forestry

1. Esther Lechevallier
ERIAFF Conference, Den Haag, The Netherlands
30th of June 2017
FERTINNOWA
Transfer of INNOvative techniques for
sustainable WAter use in FERtigated crops
Horizon 2020

2. FERTINNOWA concept
A possible solution in MGS?
Could it work ? (technological,
socio-economic, regulatory?)
Cucumber growers experience
a water problem
Fertigated crops:
-outdoor/indoor,
-soilless/ soil grown ,
-vegetables/ornamentals/
fruits / trees
Bottom-up
approach

3. Step 1: mapping the current situation
• 369 grower’s interviews carried out in Europe & South-Africa
 On 531 cropping systems
• Focus on:
• Technologies applied
• Technological, socio-economic and
legislative bottlenecks regarding
- water sources
- water use efficiency
- reducing environmental impact
+growers needs
Horizon 2020
Outcomes will be published on the
website from September 2017 on.
Coming
soon !

4. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Poland
Slovenia
France
Italy
Portugal
South Africa
Spain
Belgium
France
Netherlands
United Kingdom
Central
-EastMediterraneanNorth-West
Type of cropping system per country
soil-grown
covered
soil-grown
outdoor
soilless covered
soilless outdoor
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Belgium,n=43
Netherlands,n=42
UnitedKingdom,n=17
FranceNorth,n=16
FranceSouth,n=26
Spain,n=94
Italy,n=33
SouthAfrica,n=8
Poland,n=73
Slovenia,n=19
North-West Mediterranean Central-East
Percentage of growers mentioning an issue regarding their water source
Quantity problems
Quality problems (mineral
composition)
Sanitary problems
Chemical pollution
problems
Issues are very
diverse across
countries &
cropping
systems !

5. 0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Cropappearance
Substrate/soilappearance
FixedScheduleadjusted
Fixedschedule
Weatherstation
Solarimeter
Temperature
Computerisedwaterbalancemethods
Manualwaterbalancesheet
Modelingdevice
DecisionSupportSystem
Tensiometer
Capacitanceprobe
Watermark
Neutronprobe
TDRprobe
Substratewatercontent
Substrateweighing
Leaf/Stemwaterpotential
Dendrometer
Canopycoverage
Lysimeter
Demandtraysystem
ECsensorindischargewater
Drainagevolumemeasurement
Measureofvolumeofwaterdelivered…
Measureofvolumedeliveredatemitter
Without tool Weather
parameters
Water balance Soil/substrate sensors Crop sensors Drainage sensors
(SL)
Supply
control
North-West United Kingdom
North-West Netherlands
North-West France
North-West Belgium
Mediterranean Spain
Mediterranean South Africa
Mediterranean Italy
Mediterranean France
Central-East Slovenia
Central-East Poland
Non-tech solution are still
much more used!
Mapping the current practices
Direct crop / soil sensors are
the least used

6. What would convince you to use more sustainable water sources?

7. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Reducing labour costs (e.g. operation of manual
valves)
Security of water supply
Addressing current or future restricted water
availability
Licencing / legislative changes and need to
demonstrate efficiency use
Meeting customer requirement to demonstrate
sustainable production
Improving security of the production
Reducing crop and siol damages
Improving financial returns
reduce production costs
Increasing marketable yields
Improving crop quality
Which factor is the most important for adopting more efficient fertigation & water
management practices?

8. • 148 technological review documents = how does
a technology scores at:
• technological level
• socio-economic level
• regulatory level
• Some examples of TRD’s:
Outcomes are being published on the
website database
Step 2: evaluating the current situation
www.fertinnowa.com
Freshly
launched!!

9. Comment &
Feedback area
Let us know your
opinion &
experience!
Technology
description
Available in English &
at least one other
language
Results from the
feedback
+users rates
Pictures
& functionning
schemes

11. 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. Since Spring 2017 25 pilots have
been set up all over Europe to
exchange technologies.
-> demonstration activities!
Follow the outcomes of the exchanges
fom August on!

12. Step 4: bridging the gap between knowledge
and implementation
Horizon 2020
• July ‘17: release technology database
• August ‘17: interactive maps technology exchange
• September ‘17: outcomes grower’s surveys
• November ’17: workshop on exchange of technologies

13. FERTINNOWA’s passport
 Partners: 23 + 1 linked third party (9 member states + South-Africa)
Horizon 2020

14. Contacts:
www.fertinnowa.com
• Els Berckmoes (Coordinator)
els.berckmoes@proefstation.be
0032491 37 08 50
• Esther Lechevallier
esther.lechevallier@cate.bzh
Thank you for your
attention!