Gestão de precisão nos recursos hídricos – casos práticos de demonstração

Artur Saraiva; Raquel Costa Saraiva; Anabela Grifo; Albertina  Ferreira; Mafalda Ferreira; Samuel Guerreiro; Nuno Barba; Ana Paulo; Margarida Oliveira

doi:10.25746/ruiips.v11.i3.32547

Authors

Artur Saraiva CIEQV—Life Quality Research Centre, Avenida Dr. Mário Soares n 110, 2040-413 Rio Maior, Portugal; ESAS, UIIPS—Instituto Politécnico de Santarém, Quinta do Galinheiro, S. Pedro, 1001-904 Santarém, Portugal; LEAF Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food Research Center, Associated Laboratory TERRA, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349- 017 Lisboa, Portugal. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5039-5686
Raquel Costa Saraiva CIEQV—Life Quality Research Centre, Avenida Dr. Mário Soares n 110, 2040-413 Rio Maior, Portugal; ESAS, UIIPS—Instituto Politécnico de Santarém, Quinta do Galinheiro, S. Pedro, 1001-904 Santarém, Portugal; LEAF Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food Research Center, Associated Laboratory TERRA, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349- 017 Lisboa, Portugal. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7761-9931
Anabela Grifo 1 ESAS, Escola Superior Agrária de Santarém 2 UIIPS, Unidade de Investigação do Instituto Politécnico de Santarém 3 CIEQV, Centro de Investigação em Qualidade de Vida https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1152-0410
Albertina Ferreira 1 ESAS, Escola Superior Agrária de Santarém 2 UIIPS, Unidade de Investigação do Instituto Politécnico de Santarém 3 CIEQV, Centro de Investigação em Qualidade de Vida https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3908-8535
Mafalda Ferreira 1 ESAS, Escola Superior Agrária de Santarém https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2245-6688
Samuel Guerreiro 1 ESAS, Escola Superior Agrária de Santarém https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4260-2320
Nuno Barba 1 ESAS, Escola Superior Agrária de Santarém
Ana Paulo 1 ESAS, Escola Superior Agrária de Santarém
Margarida Oliveira CIEQV—Life Quality Research Centre, Avenida Dr. Mário Soares n 110, 2040-413 Rio Maior, Portugal; ESAS, UIIPS—Instituto Politécnico de Santarém, Quinta do Galinheiro, S. Pedro, 1001-904 Santarém, Portugal; LEAF Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food Research Center, Associated Laboratory TERRA, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349- 017 Lisboa, Portugal. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2491-0669

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25746/ruiips.v11.i3.32547

Keywords:

Water use efficieny, Gulbenkian água, Olive growing, Precision agriculture, Monitoring technologies

Abstract

The efficient use of water is now a necessity for all farmers given the growing constraints on its current and future availability. The H2Oliva project, funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, aimed to promote and demonstrate efficient irrigation water management practices, with the support of currently existing monitoring technologies. The project had a complementary logic in the three thematic sessions that were carried out, approaching all the theoretical and practical concepts necessary for the efficient use of water. The methodology used was based on the “learning-by-doing” principle and sought to ensure that participants followed the different stages of implementation of a roadmap aimed at the efficient use of water, where they could experience first-hand the advantages, disadvantages, challenges and opportunities of different technologies. The sessions, with a theoretical and practical component, were held in two regions, in order to reach a greater number of producers.

In the first session, and serving as a basis for the evolution of irrigation management, the soil-water relationship was explored. Participants were able to watch soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) being mapped, discuss its relationship with soil texture and water retention capacity, using this information to support the selection of monitoring sites in each plot. In the following session, the topics covered were: the water balance in the soil, the crop's water needs, irrigation management in the olive grove and the technologies available for monitoring, as well as the use of vegetative indices in decision support. Several methods of monitoring water in the soil are listed, as well as several tools to obtain vegetation indices (satellite and drone), with the advantages and disadvantages of each option being discussed. Finally, in the last session, the final balance of the campaign was carried out with regard to irrigation management, addressing the planned irrigation allocation and the actually provided to the crop, identifying good practices, hypotheses for improving irrigation management and indicators of efficient use of water for the crop. At the same time, the project provides various educational resources such as leaflets and videos that can be consulted online.

Thus, to enhance the transfer of knowledge, this project stood out for allowing participants to monitor the cultural cycle in the three plots monitored in the project and to have direct contact with all the steps and technologies associated with carrying out an irrigation of precision. With the use of concrete examples, through the accompaniment of the cultural cycle by the participants, it was possible to translate the basic academic knowledge into real implications observable in the plots, following the principle of “learning-by-doing”. There was a general interest in the topics discussed, with 100% of the participants indicating this interest and stating their intention to participate in other actions of the project. In addition, the effective transmission of knowledge was also verified, since more than 90% of the participants indicated that they intend to use the techniques and/or technologies presented and that they feel capable of using the knowledge transmitted throughout the sessions in their own production fields.