A new platform that optimizes the use of fertilizers in agriculture is now available to farmers all over the world in any type of environment and weather conditions. This is an interactive software tool that allows each producer to take over the management of fertilization at a professional level, without they have necessarily to have prior experience. This allows farmers to reduce the use of fertilizers by 50 % and therefore save money, while increasing productivity and reducing the negative impact on the environment. The software lets farmers create fertilization formulas and programs based on their specific conditions. The program provides recommendations for an optimal fertilization (fertilizer types, dosage and application) based on country-specific data, such as soil / water / leaf analysis and crop nutritional requirements.

The program selects and instantly calculates an optimum fertilizers mixing, according to water and soil composition, and crop requirements.

With this solution, users avoid undesirable chemical combinations as well as over or under fertilization, damage to soil and water resources, obstructions to irrigation issuers, salinity buildup, and other requirements that modern Agriculture develops.

The solution addresses a full range of fertilization and irrigation objectives, which can be planned in minutes instead of days. Special program algorithms monitor and manage nutritional requirements for all kind of crops while it balances complex and delicate nutrient combination from which soil, water and fertilizers are made up.

Fertilizers impacts on the environment

One of the greatest challenges in modern agriculture is to provide food for the growing world population, and to minimize pressure on the environment. Fertilizer misuse can have negative effects on the environment, such as:

• Groundwater and surface water pollution
• Damage to soil structure and increased soil erosion
• Contaminated food products
• Air Pollution

Groundwater pollution

Fertilizers accumulated in the ground could leach to lower layers and eventually reach groundwater. Ratio in which nutrients excesses are lost depends on various factors such as soil type, electric charge of nutrients, nutrient concentrations, etc.

Being highly soluble, nitrates (NO3) have the greatest potential to reach groundwater. Leaching of nitrates in agricultural fields may increase nitrate concentration in groundwater to unacceptable levels for drinking water quality.

Unused fertilizer can also flow into lakes, rivers and pools and lead to algae and weeds growing.

Salinity accumulation and damage to soil structure

When accumulated in the soil, fertilizer excesses increase salinity accumulation and reduce soil fertility. Subsequently, soil structure is damaged and soil erosion is caused.

Want to know more about fertigation? We have online courses on this topic, please visit http://oceanbusiness.com.es/inscripciones-cursos-line/

Rainwater expert Dr. Ilan Adler, who is currently studying water and green technologies, recently visited Israel. Adept in the subject and curious about seeing the innovations developed within Israel – a country recognized as a center of global innovation and a provider of advanced solutions and equipment to irrigate family properties – he spent several days assessing different solutions developed in the Holy Land. Among them were technologies for the collection and use of rainwater for various uses in the home and field.

In his manual, Adler defines rainwater collection as the collection, transport, and storage of natural rain which falls on organic and inorganic structures.

Surfaces that collect water may be house and building roofs, store and shop roofs, open areas, etc., and collection tanks are designed to be used specifically in this field. According to the expert, the stored water can be used for any purpose, but different filters should be adapted for each use. A very simple filter can be used for basics such as laundry, cleaning, toilets, and irrigation, but for personal cleanliness and drinking water, a different, more complex set of filters must be used.

After evaluating Israeli rainwater dropdown storage tanks, the expert concluded that they are a practical solution. They seem to be very strong, don’t leak, and are easy to handle, transport, and store, especially when compared with rigid tanks.

The rainwater tanks prove to extremely useful for storing water in both homes and in small agricultural plots. These tanks are used to supply the irrigation needs through gravity drip irrigation systems (GDS) when other supply sources are less reliable.

The GDS system has been designed to provide high-performance, cost-effective irrigation equipment to small domestic plots. The equipment consists of a storage tank that can be filled from any local water source, water distribution pipes, a filter, and drip lines suitable for all types of crops.

GDS advantages include:

Low-cost irrigation for large areas such as small rural orchards, and simple technology that increases household income and food supply to rural communities.

This combination of tanks with the GDS system is ideal for small plots in order to achieve greater efficiency and better results since it: maximizes water and fertilizer savings to produce better results at a lowest cost; has very simple installation, operation, and maintenance procedures; doesn’t need infrastructure or electricity; increases household income; and strengthens the rural communities’ structure.

You can download Dr. Adler’s full manual in Spanish by click on Captación del agua de lluvia

We invite you to voice your doubts, interests, questions, and comments to this post.

Wind mini turbines tech has been a very popular topic in this blog, so we decided to expand the information. The emphasis is doing on commercial aspects of these wind mini turbines for both rural areas and its new application in cities.

Many remote rural areas and even less remote areas have serious problems getting reliable electricity sources. For example, in Venezuela not only remote areas face this problem but nearly all populations within the country suffer blackouts and electricity shortage. This situation, if less severe than in Bolivarian country, is also common in other American countries.

An ecologically viable way to alleviate these problems in areas with suitable wind conditions – usually where winds blow over 6 meters per second- is generating electricity by using turbines or wind turbines as they are better known.

Main topic of the article deals with most common use of wind mini turbines, which means turbines with less than 100 kW that are intended for auto consumption in places where there is no electricity network. However, with changes in legislation, it is becoming possible to install these systems in cities. This allows the use of electricity generated by turbines for home consumption in buildings where there is already an electric network, such as a home or business that are already drawing power from the grid. In this mode, the energy generated is consumed directly by operating appliances and prevents that his owner buy that energy to the electric company. For example, a conventional turbine with a power of 1.75 kW could generate over 50% of the annual electricity in an average household. The other application, which is already applied in Israel for photovoltaic power and in other countries for wind power, involves selling the power generated by mini turbines to the power network.

 On the trade issue

Many professionals interested in installing the mini turbines commercially ask me where to start because the first step is the assessment of wind resource. There is existing data about this in many areas but there are also special devices that measure wind characteristics in situ. On the issue of costs: Total costs for the installation of a wind turbine can vary depending on several parameters such as the kind of turbine cost, construction contracts, type of machine, project location, and other factors. Components of wind projects cost include site analysis expenses, turbine price and charge, construction costs, permitting and interconnection studies, utility system up-dates, transformers, protection and measurement equipment, insurance, operations, warranty, maintenance and repair, legal fees and consultation. Other factors that will impact your project economics include financing costs, size of your project, and taxes.

–          Small turbines cost about $3,000 to $5,000 per kilowatt of capacity. That means a 10 kilowatt machine can cost between $35,000 and $50,000.

The video below shows installation and start-up of 1kw turbine in Northern Israel. Double-click and download the file.