Environmental conditions and nutrient supply are closely intertwined for successful plants growth and development. It is fundamental to optimize nutrient solution application and management for improved crop productivity.

High crop yield and quality are possible if nutrition is optimized. Up to date, fertigation is widely used to produce more yield of high quality thanks to the right combination of water and nutrients, which are key factors. In other words, higher efficiency in the farming process is achieved through fertigation. Indeed, adequate fertigation management results in an increase of water use efficiency, as 25-40% of irrigation water can be saved and 33% more production can be obtained. At the field level, these changes significantly increase the crop yield (Hatfield J.L. 2001).

Today, fertigation implies a given amount of fertilizers (mainly N, P, K) during the irrigation period, either by supplying fertilizers over a short time at the end of the irrigation time, or by turning the fertigation pump on and off periodically during the irrigation period, presuming that the soil, like a bucket, mixes fertilizers with water and plants take what they need. Alternatively, fertilizers are mixed with water and pushed through pump pulses along the irrigation lines, but this method barely provides a stabilized mixed flow.

As a consequence, the soil hardly retains water and fertilizers causing an average of 50% waste without being used by plants. Also, due to inefficient mixing, plants get into contact with high levels of concentrated fertilizers. This creates an abiotic stress as salt prevents the proper mechanism of nutrient mobility through water transport, thus reducing plants nutrient intake and sometimes killing plants.

NESS Fertigation is an agritech system that brings precision agriculture by assisting management decisions using technology for improved crop yield. With optimized inputs about water and fertilizers usage, productivity and sustainability of agricultural production are enhanced.

NESS Fertigation includes precision irrigation and innovates by applying fertilizers into the drip irrigation lines using the proportional application method and following two key principles:

• first, by reducing the electrical conductivity (EC) that plants come in contact with through fertilizers
• second, by keeping a constant EC throughout the irrigation period. Thanks to a lower and constant EC, plants adjust and absorb fertilizers better with less stress. More production can be obtained by maintaining a low but constant nutrient level in soil solution, which is principally N (Mohammad M.J. 2004).

Also, NESS Fertigation system mixes water and fertilizers since the beginning of the irrigation period and innovatively couples the latter with a high number of fertilizer pulses/hour. Indeed, an increase in fertigation frequency allows for reducing the concentration of immobile macronutrients, such as P, K, and micronutrients, and decreases environmental pollution (Silber A. & al, 2003). Although nutrient leaching by fertigation is possible, the applied nutrients should not be submitted to excessive irrigation during application or in further irrigation (Badr M. 2007). Setting up a fertigation schedule following the above-mentioned principles allows for the right amounts of nutrients to be put at the right time depending on plants growth stage. By doing so, favorable conditions are set to maximize plants development, crop quality and yield, while minimizing the stress factors.

Furthermore, NESS Fertigation system monitors plants behavior using soil sensors for average electrical conductivity (EC) placed at various depths for feedback on the amount of fertilizers that plants can absorb. EC is an index of salt concentration and an indicator of electrolyte concentration of the fertilizer solution at plant roots. EC plays a key role in plants growth and development as it indicates the availability of essential nutrients in the soil and the fertility of the soil, and provides measures regarding the osmotic pressure. High EC prevents plants nutrients intake resulting in fertilizers waste, plants burn, nutrients discharge in the soil and pollution. On the other hand, a low EC through insufficient nutrient solution impacts plants health because of deficiencies, provoking stress and a slow growth rate.

NESS Fertigation also includes an automated control system through algorithms to ensure that crops get the appropriate amounts of water and fertilizers. Data is gathered through solar-powered soil sensors and sent to a computer software platform via a cloud for on-time analysis and control, as well as data-based decision. By doing so, timely corrective actions take place remotely with adjustments in fertilizers amounts or irrigation duration, for example. This service is provided by NESS Fertigation and gives farmers and growers the ability to do smart farming through optimized and automated routine processes, informed decisions for efficient crops management and better results with increased production volumes, and lower financial costs.

Using NESS Fertigation system, farmers and growers can better concentrate on their daily activities while saving time and effort, with an optimal use of resources, lower food insecurity and economic preoccupations.