New research to develop precision irrigation and fertigation of stone fruit

Funded by Defra’s 'Farming Innovation Programme' the research aims to develop novel technology for measuring nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium concentrations in soil solutions at different rooting depths in real-time. The work will make use of a vast array of new technology including soil moisture sensors that will inform low-input water and fertiliser strategies that reduce the loss of water and nutrients from the rooting zone.

The impacts of these treatments on greenhouse gas emissions from orchard soils will also be measured. If successful, the work could develop precision irrigation and fertigation systems that can be adopted by commercial growers and lead to a reduction in water and fertiliser use in plum and cherry crops.

Fruit marketing company Norton Folgate (part of The Orchard Fruit Company) is leading the project consortium of commercial stone fruit growers, including AC Hulme, Domum Agrum, Torry Hill Farm. The technology providers are Delta-T Devices, Driemtech, EDT directION, Fotenix, Soil Moisture Sense, with Niab leading the research at its East Malling site in Kent.

Commenting on the new project, Bruce McGlashan of Norton Folgate highlighted that the stone fruit sector’s production costs have risen markedly in recent years, particularly fertiliser costs. "The industry consortium that, until recently, funded Niab’s Plum Demonstration Centre had identified water and nutrient use efficiency as a high priority for research. We have assembled a new group of partners who bring a vast wealth of skills, experience, and technology to support the development of a precision irrigation and fertigation strategy."

Niab’s research leader Dr Mark Else has spent much of his career researching water use efficiency in other fruit crops and points out that, "No grower guidance on the optimum nutritional requirements of UK plum and cherry crops has ever been assembled, so growers are unable to match their supply of nutrients with crop demand during changeable and challenging growing conditions. Oversupply of nitrogen in particular is not uncommon giving rise to vigorous vegetative growth which reduces light penetration in the tree canopy and increases the cost of tree management. We plan to develop a strategy for growers that will avoid this in future, reducing fertiliser costs and lowering emissions of greenhouse gases."