Kontext

In this project, taking tomato cultivation as a model, mycorrhization will be applied in planters and in plantations and will be combined with a minimised irrigation system that saves water and is compatible with high-quality production. This water saving can be achieved by adjusting irrigation through the application of soil humidity sensor technology, registering the results and undertaking remote management based on the data generated. This project will implement a practical application to show the water-saving capability of this technology, which is currently available and increasingly affordable for producers. Additionally, the microbiota of the soil is enriched with the application of mycorrhizal funguses, which may favour the abundance and the establishment of natural enemies of pests that affect crops.
The encapsulation of seeds with beneficial organisms, growth stimulators, biological control agents or microbial antagonists, is profiled as an innovative, effective and practical system within a water-saving scenario. The use of tomato seeds encapsulated with a mycorrhizal fungus will introduce this technology as an additional treatment in order to establish an effective symbiosis in tomato plants, and will enable the assessment of the advantages of this application, comparing it with traditional inoculum application in fields subject to a deficit of irrigation water.