The Regional Ministry of Water, Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and the Environment is investing nearly 1.4 million euros in a pioneering sensor-based project aimed at optimizing and improving the efficiency of irrigation in the Campo de Cartagena region.
The project covers the deepest soil profile, enabling the monitoring of aquifer fluctuations, and will allow for the monitoring of more than 44,000 hectares of farmland in the Mar Menor area.
WIDHOC, a Cartagena-based company dedicated to technological innovation in agriculture, announces the launch of the world's largest sensor deployment project.
Farmers in the region can register at this website https://forms.gle/GBNGiSjraZewdfFC7 to access the monitoring stations. The monitoring stations are equipped with 50 flow meters, 25 rain gauges, and 25 piezometers for aquifer monitoring, forming a system that promotes more efficient use of water and fertilizers.
The equipment from the company WIDHOC, specifically the D-WIDE data loggers, is sustainable both because it is a solar-powered system and because it is designed to optimize irrigation water use by monitoring soil, plant, and environmental parameters with high precision.
The data received from the network of monitoring wells is managed by the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME) and the Segura Center for Soil Science and Applied Biology (CEBAS) for processing and subsequent use by the Irrigation District.
This project is funded by ERDF grants in collaboration with the Department of Water, Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and the Environment of the Region of Murcia.
