| 83 Water not an inexhaustible resource There is a massive cost to the development of water storage and capture systems and to its application. Richard Loader IRRIGATION » Irrigation New Zealand Despite frequent warnings about climate change and its impact on planet earth, there is still a view in New Zealand that water is an inexhaustible and abundant resource. Rain falls roughly at the right time of the year for the plants’ growing conditions, and we tend to plant in environments where we know plants will absorb the right amount of water and have the right amount of stress when they need that stress. Grape vines are a very good example where water stress can be a key to a quality drop. But as the climate changes, and rain no longer falls as it did five years ago, water becomes scarce and that is where Smart Irrigation becomes hero. While water is considered free, it is not free. There is a massive cost to the development of water storage and capture systems and to its application. IrrigationNZ Chief Executive Vanessa Winning says water is the biggest enabler of climate mitigation and adaptation in this country, and while we are getting there, it is still not well understood yet. Having recently attended the 24th International Congress on Irrigation and Drainage in Adelaide, Vanessa says Kiwi growers can learn much from developments in India, Israel and other places where water is so scarce. “There’s so much that our country needs to learn in terms of managing finite resources. And for those countries where water is so scarce, irrigation is not the dirty word that it sometimes is here. It’s a vital tool to make things grow, but it needs to be sustainable.” For IrrigationNZ, SMART is an acronym for Sustainable, Managed, Accountable, Responsible and Targeted irrigation systems. SMART irrigation is all about ensuring sustainability and the reduction in water use, through using • to page 84 IRRIGATE WITH CONFIDENCE · IRRIGATION SYSTEMS · REMOTE MANAGEMENT · PRECISION VRI Digitroll Blockage Monitoring Systems and Spares. Suppliers of Needham Ag John Deere JD750A Air-Seeder Parts and Modifications 0275 083 789 unearthag.com • •
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=