Por Redaccion 
The community has supported agricultural companies to improve their sustainability and profitability in a day, developed at the Mercian Institute of Research and Development and Agricultural and Environmental Development (IMIDA), where eight research subprojects were presented to adapt and mitigate climate changes in the productive sectors of agri-food.
These investigations were carried out in co-financed research projects with European funds grouped under the title «Feder Agro Up!».
IMIDA’s director, Andrés Martínez, explained during the opening of the day that «the purpose is to implement actions in production systems, based on scientific knowledge about the functional and agronomic behavior of crops, which allow the sector to apply techniques to adapt and reduce the impact of climate change and at the same time, to maintain the profitability of the changes in climate». «.
The research carried out, of a transversal nature, aims to reduce water consumption using, among other things, the latest monitoring and sensor technologies. This allows farmers to know, among other things, the complete irrigation cycle in plants or trees and the effect they produce on them or the use of strategies to retain moisture and prevent evaporation.
The IMIDA director said that «these techniques allow, with less water, to guarantee the quality of fruits, as well as to maintain the production and profitability of crops». To achieve this, researchers apply, for example, the knowledge acquired from the agronomic behavior of plants or trees, which allows them to know exactly what effects certain amounts of irrigation have, closing the entire water cycle in the plant.
Martínez said, «we transfer to farmers and producers the knowledge acquired on the exact amount of water needed to optimize its use and increase fruit production».
Another of the strategies developed and explained during the day was the development by hydration agents in citrus crops. It has been shown that these improve water efficiency in the soil, as they reduce surface tension, facilitate its homogeneous distribution, and improve its retention.
This tool, similar to a detergent, allows water to reach more efficiently in the root area, reducing evaporation and drainage loss. On the other hand, under water deficiency conditions, this advancement allows to maintain a higher moisture content over time, favoring the retention of essential macronutrients, so they optimize crop nutrition.
«Improvements can be reflected in agronomic response, as they maintain fruit development, which can increase their caliber and the quantity of harvested fruits,» he said.
Vegetables
Improving vegetable covers and organic coating is another tool offered to farmers, especially in viticulture. The spreading of cutting residues, such as barley straws, contributes to moisture retention and reduces water evaporation, decreasing erosion, leaks, and seepage.
Additionally, it could also be an ecological alternative to reduce soil evaporation and increase water productivity in crops, promoting a circular economy with the use of residues, especially in extended drip irrigation areas.
Another of the solutions developed and available to the sector are instruments for understanding the productive structure and calculating farm production costs, to improve their management and planning.
These are studies carried out by IMIDA and transferred to the sector that allow the analysis of the durability of different production systems that evaluate products, processes, or equipment, among others.