Irriman Life+ / Implementation of efficient irrigation management for a sustainable agriculture - LIFE13 ENV/ES/000539

Project information
The project aims to implement an efficient irrigation management schedule for two areas in the Segura Basin and one in the Guadalquivir basin. The project will implement, demonstrate and disseminate a sustainable irrigation strategy for use with woody crops in Mediterranean agro-ecosystems. The strategy will be based on reduction of water supply during non-critical periods, the covering of water needs during critical periods and maximising yields per unit of applied water. The project will implement demonstration plots where sustainable irrigation protocols will be applied. Different cropping zones will be selected with the most representative fruit trees, including peach, table grapes, citrus, apricot, early apricot and almond. More specifically, the project will have three phases: Installation of sensors to measure soil and water status in different fruit trees; Using data from the sensors, the beneficiary will develop a series of sustainable irrigation schedules depending on the type of cultivation and the area; Once the sustainable irrigation models have been created, the project will assess: o The environmental effects of sustainable irrigation in terms of water and energy consumption, runoff water quantity and quality, water leaching depth, NO3 leaching and the capability of the soil to fix carbon; o Vegetative growth and crop yield so irrigation can be adjusted at any time if it is necessary for adaptation to quality standards; and o Crop yields and the final fruit quality at harvest in order to verify the effectiveness of the sustainable irrigation strategy.
Project results: 
The project expects to produce the following results: – Reduction by 30% in water used for irrigation, compared to the current irrigation regime. This reduction in water consumption will also reduce the use of chemical fertilisers by 30%, reducing groundwater pollution, and producing an improvement in harvested fruit; – Reduction in irrigation system energy consumption by 30% because of pressurization; -Reduced CO2 emissions: o By 30% as a result of the reduced energy consumption; o By a further 40% because of the reduction in soil CO2 flux rates because of the irrigation technique used.
Project partners: 
Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT)
Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura (CEBAS-CSIC)
Consejería de Agricultura de Murcia
Universidad de Córdoba (UCO)
Comunidad de Regantes Genil-Cabra
Federación de Comunidades de Regantes del Mediterráneo (Fenacore)
Project dates: 
September 2014 to September 2017
Contact
Contact person: 
Alejandro Pérez Pastor
Contact email: 
Contact organisation: 
Universiad Pólitécnica de Cartagena (UPCT)
Funding
Funding agency: 
European Commission -LIFE
Grant: 
k€845
Total budget: 
k€1713