Microbiological contamination of irrigation water is no longer a minor factor in horticultural production. Irrigation plays a vital role on all farms because it directly affects crop productivity and quality, but water quality can make the difference between gain and loss on the farm.
For years, many companies in the horticultural sector have relied on Ecofarm’s expertise, understanding how essential it is to monitor not only the chemical composition of irrigation water, but also the microbiological aspects of water supply sources.
Between reservoirs, wells and river surface waters, each possesses specific chemical and microbiological characteristics. The importance of verifying quality at entry is not everything. Measuring microbiological composition, even in different months of the year, at the point of water delivery is still little in use but extremely useful in actually understanding what is coming to the plant. In some cases, the use of non-sterile water at the point of entry quickly leads to biofilm formation in irrigation systems in addition to also being a vehicle for pathogens that can subsequently infect the crop.
Ecofarm offers its own water treatment with OZONE: this technology helps the farmer in managing phytopathologies from the hydroponic greenhouse to the open field. The advantage of ozone is that it can treat large amounts of water in a short time and compared to other disinfection systems, and it can be used in-line in the irrigation system. Thus, inserting an ozone water treatment system offers the possibility of protecting crops from both microbiological contamination (e.g., coliforms, E. coli, etc.) that can lead to product disputes and waterborne diseases such as bacterial diseases.
The result is to “defend” crops from widespread risks of bacteriosis or other diseases related to surface water contamination and, most importantly, to ensure product quality in terms of health and shelf life by helping the farmer incorporate a natural solution on the farm that helps limit the use of pesticides.
The installation of Ecofarm Ozone machines for sanitizing irrigation water means that even surface water can be used with foliar spraying, without running the risk of subsequent problems related to microbial load on the product. All with simple, automatic and very inexpensive technology.
A system:
-Easy to apply and install
-which leaves no residue in the water
-with a rapid return on investment
-with very low maintenance costs and consumption
-that makes it possible to use available water resources in a waste-free and fruitful way.
Ecofarm makes its irrigation water treatment technology available to horticultural farms-a system designed to sanitize the water resource and make it more usable. Ecofarm’s experience, gained through years of studies and applications in the field and now recognized by many leading companies in the industry, allows us to say that this irrigation water treatment system is able to limit, if not eliminate, the risk of bacterial diseases on crops, and to prevent the spread of both viral and fungal diseases.