‘A la carte’ irrigation against climate change - Diario Córdoba

In this context, and in the search for a more sustainable agriculture to deal with climate change, it is worth highlighting the innovative Morera project (system for monitoring efficient irrigation and agricultural performance), in which the research group Management andWater and soil conservation of the Institute of Sustainable Agriculture (IAS-CSIC) of Córdoba, within a public-private consortium whose objective "is to develop custom irrigation recommendations and programs, and fertirrigation to contribute nutrients to the ground, for each plot, through intelligence and satellite images », as Victoria González and Francisco Orgaz, researchers from the aforementioned IAS-CSIC group explain.

In addition to the IAS-CSIC, three technology companies based in Madrid (Lidax, Asoeptics and Thales Alenia Space), a Sevillian company of Agricultural Consulting (TEPRO, also based in Córdoba);and the National Institute of Aerospace Technique (INTA) and the University of Valencia.

The project could reduce up to 25% the need for water in crops, integrating data from multiple sources and developing a new generation of miniaturized and compact spatial instruments and sensors.Morera, which began to develop last year and will extend until the end of 2023, has a total budget of 5.33 million euros, 3.84 million of them subsidized by the Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI, dependent on the Ministryof science and innovation).Not surprisingly, this project responds to one of the challenges of the Missions Science and Innovation call, with which the CDTI seeks solutions to high -impact problems in society through innovative technologies.

Among other issues, the project includes deficit irrigation recommendations, in which the aforementioned IAS research group has been working for years, as Francisco Orgaz recalls;and more precise crop predictions optimizing productivity throughout the crop cycle.

"The comprehensive Morera system will ensure that the data provides value to the final farmer, thanks to the development of new techniques and sensors applied to remote sensing, and proposes to create a new generation of miniaturized instruments for it," says Victoria González.This project will also invest.In addition, and according to the members of the Consortium, Morera is also a pioneering project in Europe in using thermal infrared to calculate evapotranspiration and water stress, which will allow the deficit irrigation to better manage, according to its members, according to its members.In short, a project with Cordoba presence that seeks to respond to the needs of farmers in the context of climate change.