Project > Hortimed > Objectives
The problem: The water resources for horticultural crop production in the Mediterranean basin are being rapidly depleted. Seawater intrusion and nitrate/pesticide pollution into coastal aquifers feeding horticultural wells have been observed in Morocco, Egypt, in the region of Gaza, as well as in the EU countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore, uncontrolled urban waste water and irrigation leachates contaminate groundwater with poisonous detergent, biochemical, metallical, fertiliser and pesticides residues. The expansion of the area under intensive horticultural production, despite a more efficient water use, results in increased absolute water needs for agriculture, while the economic development of the same region leads to competition for scarce fresh water by other consumers.
The objective of this project is to develop a context
sensitive strategy for managing irrigation and nutrient supply of protected
crops with constrains on the quantity and quality of water supply. The economical
(quality and quantity of crop yield) and the ecological (contamination
risks of water table, nature conservation) factors affecting the strategic
decisions will also be considered. Moreover the research of this project will
advance our knowledge about plant response to salinity and water stress. These
new findings will be combined with new management techniques into
developing a Decision Support System for farmers.
The following chart provides an insight into the new endeavours pursued by the proposed research.
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Objective |
Tools |
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Increase fresh
water use efficiency of protected cultivation |
Minimise
fresh water use |
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To determine environmental impact for selected
protected-horticulture crops, for different root media and salt content of
available water. ·
To develop irrigation/fertigation recipes for
main vegetables under protected conditions based on soil fertility, growth
stage and yield-quality targets. |
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Increase
utility of low-qua-lity water |
· To compile/determine yield response to salinity of the major crops. · To determine a strategy for climate management with high salinity of irrigation (CO2 injection, shading, humidification), in order to mitigate salinity damage and exploit the potential for better quality with salty root environment. ·
To determine a strategy to minimise salt accumulation
rate in a closed-loop irrigation system, in dependence of water
and nutrients uptake and of root medium characteristics. |
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Decrease
their reliance on good quality water |
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Strategies
to maximise use of lower quality water |
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To determine cost-benefit
of possible farm level investments (rain harvesting, drain water
recycling, use of wastewater, reverse-osmosis, disposal of residuals),
depending on available water resources and type of crops. ·
To determine a strategy for
management of water sources of varying quality, under given
constraint of input of fresh water and/or of release of residuals. ·
To determine feasibility of
cascade combinations of crops of increasing salt-tolerance. |
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Ensure
application of new mana-gement |
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A Decision support system that aims to
maximise return under given constraints in water, water quality and
release of chemicals. ·
To develop a farmers guide and “rules of thumb” translated
to all participating languages. ·
Dissemination and short courses for extension
specialists. |