"THE AIM OF THIS PROJECT IS TO IMPROVE THE WATER MANAGEMENT IN WOODY CROPS OF GREAT INTEREST TO SPAIN AND COUNTRIES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN. THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPORTANCE OF THE OLIVE AND THE GREAT EXPECTATIONS FOR TABLE GRAPES, AND ESPECIALLY FOR THE CHERRY GROWING IN NON-TRADITIONAL CROPPING AREAS HAS BEEN THE KEY IN CHOOSING THESE CROPS. THE PROJECT IS BASED ON THE NEED TO HAVE A PRECISE KNOWLEDGE OF CROP RESPONSE TO WATER DEFICIT, BOTH AGRONOMICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL LEVEL, TO DEVELOP PRECISE REGULATED DEFICIT IRRIGATION (RDI) SCHEDULING. HENCE THROUGH THE OBJECTIVES INTENDED TO DEEPEN THE STUDY OF WATER RELATIONS IN THE SOIL-PLANT-ATMOSPHERE CONTINUUM AS A WAY TO UNDERSTAND AND EXPLAIN THE EFFECT OF DEFICIT IRRIGATION TREATMENTS ON GROWTH, YIELD AND QUALITY OF THE HARVEST. THE DATA ACQUISITION FOR EVALUATING THE PLANT WATER STATUS AND THE IRRIGATION SCHEDULING AUTOMATION LIES IN THE USE OF BOTH MANUAL AND CONTINUOUS MEASUREMENTS OF SOIL AND PLANT WATER STATUS. HENCE, ONE OF THE KEY OBJECTIVES IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF WIRELESS NETWORK SENSORS IN SOIL AND PLANT, CAPABLE OF MANAGEMENT, INFORMATION TRANSMISSION AND CONTROL AND PROGRAMMING OF IRRIGATION EQUIPMENTS. IT IS AT THIS POINT, ALONG WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EXPERIMENTS AND JOINT DISCUSSION OF THE AGRO-PHYSIOLOGICAL RESULTS, WHERE AN IMPORTANT LINK IS ESTABLISHED BETWEEN THE TWO SUB-PROJECTS. THE OBJECTIVE MARKED OF THIS FINALIST PROJECT AIMS TO COMBINE THE ADVANTAGES OF USING DEFICIT IRRIGATION STRATEGIES IN COMMERCIAL ORCHARDS IN AREAS WITH LIMITED WATER AVAILABILITY WITH THE USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES. THIS TECHNOLOGY WILL FACILITATE ACHIEVING THE DESIRED CONDITIONS (THRESHOLD VALUES), AT THE LEVEL OF SOIL AND PLANT WATER STATUS IN EACH CROP PHENOLOGICAL PERIOD. THE HIGH SENSITIVITY DEVELOPED BY GROWERS IN SEMI-ARID ZONES WITH RESPECT TO THE EFFICIENT USE OF WATER HAS LED TO TEST AND ACQUIRE NEW TECHNOLOGIES THAT COULD RESULT IN INCREASED PROFITABILITY AND WATER PRODUCTIVITY OF THEIR ORCHARDS. "