Vegetable growers can now more accurately irrigate, manage and protect their crops thanks to two new environment monitoring sensors from Sencrop.
Water stress is an increasing concern due to the changing climate, and the new Soilcrop sensor takes real-time measurements of soil moisture and temperature at depths of up 60cm. This enables producers to trigger irrigation at the right time, based on existing and forecast conditions, and turn it off when soil moisture reaches the required level. In addition, it can be used to identify the most suitable time for other weather-dependent field work, including sowing and fertiliser application.
“Soilcrop takes measurements every 15 minutes at depths of 10cm, 20cm, 40cm and 60cm, giving an accurate picture of soil moisture content and temperature throughout the profile,” says Mark Herriman at Sencrop. “And if used in conjunction with Raincrop, a sensor that measures rain, temperature and air humidity, the app can show in a user-friendly graph the forecast soil moisture, using real-time data and forecasts. Producers can therefore be even more precise when it comes to crop management decisions.”