DeepDrop® System is being applied in the LIFE Nieblas project as a possible irrigation system for reforestation.

The irrigation system
DeepDrop®
System has partnered with the LIFE Nieblas project, to be incorporated as one of its methodologies for the recovery of soils at risk of desertification. LIFE Nieblas is an environmental rehabilitation project aimed at contributing to the mitigation of the effects of climate change. A total of 50 DeepDrop® units have been installed in an extension of plantations located in the Barranco de la Virgen area, on the island of Gran Canaria, where one of the first pilot tests is being carried out in conjunction with the LIFE Nieblas project.

Vicenç Carabassa, CREAF researcher and scientific supervisor of the LIFE Nieblas project, explains that “by installing the DeepDrop® System we hope to reduce evaporation losses and improve the survival, physiological state and growth of seedlings”. The collaboration between LIFE Fogs and the DeepDrop® System methodology lies in the possibility of exploring the improvement of the results of the systems being implemented, based on irrigation through water collected from fog.

DeepDrop® System
is a system that converts surface irrigation to subsurface and localized irrigation. DeepDrop® devices allow water to be guided directly to the root system of trees and shrubs. Another of its advantages is that it allows to control from the surface and at a glance if there are problems of obturation.

The LIFE Nieblas project

The project focuses on the recovery of forests in degraded areas, demonstrating the effectiveness and efficiency of the fog water harvesting and irrigation systems used, in contrast to traditional methodologies.

The project focuses on the recovery of forests in degraded areas, demonstrating the effectiveness and efficiency of the fog water harvesting and irrigation systems used, in contrast to traditional methodologies.

The main area of action is located on the island of Gran Canaria, where 20,000 trees and bushes will be planted on 35 hectares with a high risk of desertification, in the area of Barranco de la Virgen.

.

LIFE Nieblas is currently being carried out in Gran Canaria and Portugal, and once more results are obtained, it is planned to replicate the experience in the Mediterranean basin.

The
LIFE Nieblas project
project is co-financed with funds from the EU and the
Cabildo de Gran Canaria
which leads it together with the canary public company
GESPLAN (Gestión y Planeamiento Territorial y Medioambiental, S.A, a public company of the Canary Islands).
), with the participation of the research center
CREAF
the
Autonomous University of Barcelona
, the
Canary Islands Institute of Agrarian Research
the
Technological Institute of the Canary Islands
,
the University of La Laguna
the
Heredad de Aguas de Arucas y Firgas and the Intermunicipal Community Viseu Dão Lafões of Portugal.
.

Methodologies and technologies used

An innovative methodology is used to capture water from the fog, which supplies water for irrigation to the areas where reforestation is being carried out.

From these fog water collectors, different technologies are used to irrigate the seedlings that will repopulate the areas to be reforested. These technologies are:

• Individual collectors as an independent reforestation system.
• Cocoon degradable irrigation tanks (developed in another LIFE project ‘The Green Link’).
  LIFE project ‘The Green Link’)
  ).
• Water tanks with an autonomous discharge system (AFDS) and irrigation network.
• Traditional reforestation as a control group.

And to these, the DeepDrop® irrigation system has now been added.

The DeepDrop® System has already proven
excellent results both in agriculture and in gardens, and in areas with desertifying soils
and in areas with soils in the process of desertification or with very harsh conditions for cultivation. DeepDrop® System customers achieve an average of 40-70% water savings over surface irrigation models and obtain crop production conditions with good plant health. DeepDrop® System has been installed for citrus, peach, cherry, almond, walnut, subtropical (mango and avocado), olive, tomato, bell pepper, etc. plantations.