The Region of Murcia, through the Entity for Water Sanitation and Health (Esamur) and the Centre for Soil Science and Applied Biology (CEBAS-CSIC), along with Dutch and Spanish companies, is collaborating on a pilot European project called IRIS (Intelligent Reclaim Irrigation System) for the application of nutrients from treated water in adequate quantities to optimise production in greenhouse crops.
The Councillor of Agriculture and Water, Antonio Cerdá, received the Councillor of Agriculture of the Embassy of the Netherlands, Catharina Zwister, to track the progress made in the project, which is being carried out at the treatment plant Roldán-Balsicas, in Torre Pacheco. The project aims to develop a treatment model to be applied on a small scale, with a significant saving of mineral fertilisers.
The project has a budget of two million Euro and a duration of three years. It consists of three parts, focusing on the design and operation of a small flow treatment plant for wastewater, which provides treated water without removing mineral nutrient elements. It also has an automated fertigation regulator, which ensures the provision of the right irrigation doses and covers the crops' needs of minerals necessary for adequate crop fertilisation, as well as a controlled atmosphere greenhouse making use of water and nutrients for a profitable agricultural production.
Source: Iagua.es