We’re delighted to be one of many grant recipients of harmless drinks’ Farmer Innovation Fund for 2024. In partnership with Optiriego Consulting and Cuna de Platero, we’ll concentrate on implementing HIDRIX – an on-demand irrigation expertise – in our strawberry farms, supporting farmers to optimise water consumption and cut back carbon emissions in our provide chain.
Safeguarding the way forward for fruit and greens
Established in 2021, harmless drinks’ Farmer Innovation Fund goals to help suppliers of their transition to regenerative farming practices. With over half of harmless’s carbon footprint coming from its substances, regenerative agriculture investments are crucial to lowering its scope 3 emissions by 50% by 2030. Eleven suppliers from throughout the globe have obtained monetary backing from £20,000 to £500,000 to help initiatives that safeguard the way forward for fruit and greens. Grant winners demonstrated that their challenge addressed key agricultural challenges resembling soil well being, biodiversity, local weather change and water use.
This initiative is totally according to SVZ’s strategy to regenerative farming, which works past planting timber or ticking containers; it’s about minimizing our Scope 3 impression in our provide chain and growing methods to lower emissions and improve water effectivity. True transformation requires a long-term perspective and a willingness to speculate sooner or later. That’s why we provide help to our accomplice growers, encouraging them to embrace regenerative practices that yield each environmental and financial advantages.
HIDRIX: Slicing-edge irrigation for optimum development, water saving, emission discount and elevated yield
So, what precisely is HIDRIX? It’s greater than a water-saving software – this ‘autopilot for irrigation’ is a smart-system that addresses water shortage and carbon emissions by leveraging a community of in-field sensors and predictive fashions to ship exactly what strawberry vegetation want. Its progressive energy lies within the real-time evaluation of agroclimatic information, enabling HIDRIX to make split-second irrigation choices. This ensures optimum rising circumstances whereas permitting for a extra environment friendly use of water sources.
Preliminary trials in Doñana, Spain confirmed spectacular outcomes. Farms utilizing HIDRIX noticed a 15.1% discount in water consumption – a big achievement in a area grappling with rising water shortage – whereas recording a 0.7% improve in common manufacturing, defying the traditional knowledge that water financial savings come at the price of yield. For each cubic metre of water used, HIDRIX-equipped farms produced 21.2% extra strawberries, dramatically enhancing useful resource effectivity to learn the surroundings and enhance farmers’ backside strains.
The implications prolong past simply water financial savings. By optimising irrigation and lowering vitality use for water pumping, HIDRIX is anticipated to play a vital function in decreasing the carbon footprint of strawberry manufacturing. This aligns completely with SVZ’s dedication to 100% sustainable core substances by 2030.
As local weather change continues to pose challenges for agriculture, improvements like HIDRIX provide a glimpse of a extra sustainable future. With the help of the Farmer Innovation Fund, SVZ is pioneering options that would reshape the trade, working intently with front-runner farmers within the space who’re keen to check these improvements. As we transfer ahead with this challenge, we’re cultivating a extra sustainable, environment friendly, and resilient strategy to farming that locations growers on the forefront.
SVZ and harmless drinks: A fruitful partnership
For over 5 years, SVZ and harmless have been working collectively intently on sustainability initiatives. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, we launched our ‘SVZ cares’ initiative, distributing high-quality surplus zucchini to meals banks, public kitchens and fewer prosperous neighbourhoods in Almonte, Spain. We additionally collaborated on the Doñana challenge, coaching fruit growers on environment friendly water use in strawberry farming. These examples show our shared dedication to preserving human and planetary well being with accountable enterprise practices.
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