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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Green-DROP (Precise subarea specific irrigation and fertilization system)

Teaser

Summary

We, HYDRO-AIR, an German SME specialised in the development of innovative solutions in the field of agricultural irrigation and fertilisation have therefore developed Green-DROP, a sub-area specific eco-friendly and efficient fertigation (combined irrigation and fertilization) system for applying water and nutrients. At the heart of our Green-Drop fertigation technology stands the concept of combined application of water and nutrients based on crop needs using a mix of data (GIS, maps and sensors) which includes e.g. soil type, weather
conditions and plant properties. Green-Drop is able to adjust and control individual nozzles for an automatic,optimal application of water and nutrients on sub-areas within diversified fields, meaning that each point of the field will be supplied with a specific optimal water-nutrient mix. By constantly measuring and adjusting the nutrient content, Green-DROP will allow reusing available organic liquid wastes such as pretreated manure and biogas leachate as organic fertilizers DURING the vegetation period. Therefore, the water and nutrient efficiency can be increased by at least 40 %, the reuse of local nutrient rich liquid wastes will prevent pollution of aquatic systems and EU farms will be more sustainable and competitive.
The operation hours with a prototype in the development phase have shown very promising results. Our Green-DROP technology demonstrated an increase by 20% on crop yield, clear improvement in plant health, up to 40% less fertilizer use, and up to 20% less water consumption. We will bring our Green-DROP system as an ecofriendly and efficient fertigation system to European farmers and farmer cooperatives starting in Germany, France, Romania, Poland, and Spain, which accumulate more than 50 % of the total farm holdings larger
than 50 ha in the EU28.
General objectives :
Market introduction of the Green-Drop technology as a groundbreaking approach in the context of sustainable precision agriculture (irrigation and fertilization technology option).
Allowing for the first time a direct and cost-effective reuse of local available organic liquid waste sources (manure, leachate) DURING the vegetation period as organic fertilizers without polluting the environment.
To achieve significant cost savings and strengthen the competitiveness of European farmers by saving water and chemical fertilizers, and by increasing the crop yield through precise fertigation.
Creation of new jobs and income opportunities through the training and certification of independent experts to offer soil nutrient analyses and irrigation/fertilisation recommendations especially to small farmers
Achievement of market leadership of our company in the field of precision fertigation technology with significantly increased turnover, profit and employment
Reduction of the environmental impact of fertiliser application (nitrate pollution of groundwater, eutrophication of surface water bodies, ammonia and nitrous oxide emissions from fields, etc.)
Saving of finite ground water and natural fertiliser resources.

Work performed

In the first year of our project we concluded the following activities and recieved the following results:
1. Optimization and adaptation of a) a pivot Green-DROP System and b) a lineal Green-DROP System (WP1),
2. Design and construction of two demonstration industrial-scale pilot plants in Germany and Poland (priority markets according to Phase 1) with different conditions, type of
system, surface areas, crops and necessities (WP2),
3. Supporting activities as lifecycle assessment, standardization process, cost-benefit-analysis, and due diligence (WP5), and
5. Dissemination & Market entry activities as participation in congresses, web site design (WP6).

Final results

Market introduction will initially target the 65.000 large agricultural holdings, and cooperatives (50 ha or above) in France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Romania, and Czech Republic. However, Green-DROP is designed for farms of all sizes and with increasing experiences of large farms, smaller holdings will follow the example. Producers of agricultural products, which require vast amounts of water and/or fertilizers are expected to be customers at early stages, as these resources have substantial impact on their production costs, and as Green-DROP can reduce these costs. Green-DROP especially applies to farmers in water scarce regions where technologies tackling resource efficiency are particularly welcome. However, it is expected that producers of food as well as non-food crops, from all over Europe will have great interest in Green-DROP.
The project is perfectly in line with our long-term business and innovation strategy for precision agriculture. Our mission is to develop and provide high-quality, resource-efficient irrigation and fertilization equipment which supports ecological, as well as economic sustainability of agricultural techniques with customer orientated operative complexity. We fulfil this via smart integration of state-of-the-art technologies as well as upscaling and introducing these to new areas of application. With this project, we set the base for a new product line which has substantial potential to achieve a broad market penetration in Europe, and worldwide due to the increasing trend of irrigation in agriculture. Green-DROP stands at the core of a range of innovations such as liquid fertilizer modules (i.e. manure, biogas digestate). Thus, we will expand our business network and maintain and foster our position as the market leader in fertigation technologies.
Based on market estimations, we anticipate a need of fertigation systems for more than 65 million ha in the key countries considered. We are targeting a share of at least 15% of the European market for comparable systems.