An integral part of the Yara Water Solution is the Yara Water-Sensor. It assesses the water status of the crop by measuring the pressure of the leaf, and the irrigation recommendations are accessible via the Premium Engagement portal for Yara – MyYara.
Thereby, farmers can save water, energy, reduce tree maintenance and sustain maximum yield.
With increased water scarcity and agriculture consuming 70% of the global freshwater resources, the demand for new agricultural solutions keeps growing. Digital farming and crop sensing technology increases nutrient and water use efficiency.
Yara has developed a continuous and non-destructive measurement of plant water status in real time available online. This allows you to apply water on demand to optimize the resources, while maintaining production quality and quantity.
The Yara Water-Sensor measures the relative changes in the leaf’s turgor pressure – or water “blood pressure” of the plant. Turgor pressure is the pressure caused by fluid pushing against the cell wall of plant cells. It is needed to keep the plant rigidness to stand straight and continue normal cellular functions.
As the turgor pressure is the driving force for plant growth and fruit production, proper water management is crucial. If a plant is not able to access enough water, it cannot maintain turgor pressure and it will begin to wilt.
Together with other sensors in the Yara Water Solution, microclimate parameters are also monitored.
The data is sent wirelessly in real-time to Yara’s premium engagement portal, MyYara. It is then run through a calculation tool which interprets the information and provides a water application recommendation. Based on the actual Yara Water-Sensor readings and our calibration trials, the crop water status and the crop-specific irrigation recommendations are accessible via desktop, laptop, or smart phone using a standard web browser. The irrigation recommendation given by the system is crop specific and validated.
The Yara Water Solution is currently calibrated for olives and citrus. However, work is ongoing for calibration for additional crops, such as pome fruits, stone fruits (including almonds), and grapes.
Yara’s R&D department continuously works on improvements and next-generation soft- and hardware to assist farmers worldwide.