Fresh focus on efficient watering: The latest irrigation kit has been designed with energy and cost savings in mind, says Mike Beardall

摘要

The need to keep down fuel and water costs has always been a crucial factor for growers when selecting an irrigation system, but in recent years the issues associated with climate change have given the irrigation industry new challenges for the future. According to a Defra report: "The predicted impact of climate change on UK weather patterns will increase the reliance on irrigation and is focusing attention on irrigation techniques that allow more efficient use of water. "Increasingly, higher-valuehorticultural crops are grown in the UK under protected cropping. This increases yield quality but also provides opportunities both to save water and nutrient resources and to use modified supplies of these variables as regulators of growth and development."