The TIC4BIO operational group presented an ICT tool that will allow save up to 20% water in farms dedicated to agriculture, increase diversity in organic farms and significantly reduce input costs, according to Ecovalia.
The operational group, whose objective is to increase the competitiveness of the Andalusian organic agri-food sector, has created a digital application that will enable environmental improvements related to the efficient use of water and the increase of biodiversity on organic farms.
Cost savings
Likewise, in addition to saving water in agriculture, this application will allow a considerable increase in biodiversity which, in the long term and after reaching a high level of biodiversity in the farm, can lead to a 38% reduction in the annual cost allocated to the purchase of inputs (fertilizers, fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) compared to farms that do not adopt these measures.
The presentation of the results of this free web application took place at the Cortijo El Puerto farm in Lora del Río (Seville), which was the subject of study and implementation of this technology. such an innovative project.
Organic farms
The TIC4BIO platform is a tool structured in three key modules in agricultural production and management such as: precision irrigation, water footprint and biodiversity.
Auxiliadora Vecina, Director of Innovation at Ecovalia, stressed that this Operational Group “has produced very positive results that it will bring to organic farms that use this application the ability to make informed and strategic decisions improve water efficiency and increase biodiversity, in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal.
European funds
The operational group, which ran from October 2022 to September 2024, is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the Junta of Andalusia in the call for the operation of the regional operational groups of the European Association for Innovation in Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP AGRI) of 2020.
This TIC4BIO Operational Group is composed of Ecovalia, the Spanish professional association of organic production; the University of Cordoba and the Agri-Food Excellence Campus (ceiA3), ceiA3 UCO AGR 228 Hydraulics and Irrigation Research Group.
Furthermore, Ingeoliva, a family business dedicated to precision organic farming which also owns a bioclimatic oil mill and a composting plant, and Dacartec, a company that develops technological solutions.
