A system that nurtures and heals: innovation on Campus Terra

Just like water is vital for plants, Campus Terra is the place where new research methods emerge with a practical application in our territory and with innovation as an essential nutrient for their growth.

Such is the case of hop, which is growing thanks to the work of the research staff of the Projects and Planning group (“Proepla”) of the USC School of Engineering on the Lugo Campus. The project seeks to advance the optimisation of water management of this type of crop by installing a drip irrigation system that allows water and fertilizers to be applied at the same time.

Thus, according to the results report of the project “Innovations in the cultivation of hops in Spain”, carried out by Lúpulos de Calidad, these irrigation systems also allows to provide treatments for potential plant diseases. For this reason, the formula on which they are working on is much more efficient than flood irrigation, very common in hop farms in the region of Castilla y León.

The discoveries of the Proepla research project, with the support of the Lúpulos de Calidad Operational Group, contributed to the analysis of the need for irrigation and its impact on crops, and allowed to establish the specific amount of water and nutrients that hop needs on each stage of its growth.

Also, these tests —both in the plots of land of the Lutega cooperative in Mabegondo and in others devoted to organic cultivation in the Lalín area— made it possible to establish the optimal level of soil moisture for its development: 25%. Drip irrigation makes it possible to keep these moisture levels, thanks to the installation of sensors that accurately measure a number of parameters of plants and soils, such as humidity.

Thus, this system has important advantages, as it allows for a more effective monitoring of the status of each hop specimen and to improve the competitiveness of farms.

The innovative nature of this project not only makes these crops grow high — it is also environmentally sustainable, which means that Campus Terra continues to stimulate in the primary sector.