Researchers from the Faculty of Engineering at Universidad del Valle (Univalle) have developed an application that integrates a wealth of crop, soil and climate data to give Hass avocado growers, even small growers, a simple tool for precise irrigation management.
Professor Edwin Erazo, from Univalle’s School of Natural Resources and Environmental Engineering and lead author of the scientific publication “Advances in Hass avocado irrigation scheduling under a digital agriculture approach” explained that today most Hass avocado growers are applying a constant amount of water to their crops, without precisely scheduling the timing of irrigation. ”The IS-SAR application, developed as part of my doctoral thesis, can recommend to farmers, even small growers, when and how much irrigation water to apply,” Prof. Erazo said, adding that they found that Hass avocado responds positively to precise irrigation applications.
Colombian avocado exports during the period from 2015 to September 2022 totaled $725.8 million US dollars and 366,582.1 net tons, according to a report by the National Association of Foreign Trade.
