Turning the tide on water and nutrient management

Added 6 days ago

By Bonnie Flaws

Turning the tide on water and nutrient management

Hawke’s Bay startup Croptide is bringing a level of precision to horticulture that growers could only have dreamed of previously.

In 2020, Hawke’s Bay local, Hamish Penny had the brainwave to take an existing technology and adapt it for horticultural applications. It was the third year of a drought, and water use was top of mind for the industry.

He recruited the likes of Villa Maria and T&G to pilot his idea, and a few short years later the technology is in the early stages of commercialisation, and Hamish is chief executive of a local startup.

“The idea was that if we could be measuring the water status directly from the plant instead of having to use soil or guess-work, we could be more precise, make the most of the water resources available and hopefully maintain the crop and keep things healthier,” he says.

And since then, Croptide has been busy making it happen. The particular measurement technique the company has adapted had already been used in human and animal research, but not as much in plants. But by doing that, Hamish and his team have learned a lot.

“We have had to do a whole lot of new research to bring that to light. Using an electrical measurement - we put a sensor into the stem of the plant - we can analyse the plant tissue, which we can then use for insights around nutrients and water status”.

Since then, more companies have helped test and develop the technology, by giving Croptide the ability to research and build models to replicate “gold standard metrics of prime water status”. This lead to some breakthroughs that have meant it can now be actively used by growers to make decisions and start the process of bringing it to market.

One of those breakthroughs was the development of a real time tool to measure stem water potential.

“We’ve been able to release that model into our system and see good results in commercial operations. That is the main one we developed last year and has been really well received by growers, Hamish says.

Croptide’s focus is to develop digital plant-based intelligence to drive smarter decisions, that can improve environmental and productivity outcomes

“It will continue to grow and evolve over time. We want to make it easy for growers to make decisions. The technology is able to help growers make the most of every drop of water by targeting use, helping to manage droughts better.”.

Wine, apples and kiwifruit have been the three crops the company has been working with. The insights from the plant have allowed growers to tune into the plant’s true needs rather than historical norms.

But they are not stopping there. Work on fertiliser measurement is under development. Hamish hopes that before too long they can help their customers to have insights into nutrient issues and adjust management accordingly.

“This method uses the same sensor but does different data analysis and looks at different parts of the data.”

Both New Zealand and Silicon Valley investors have taken a punt on the Hawkes Bay company, and growers trialing the technology have given it a good report card.

“Feedback has been that we can simplify decision making process, to take less time and have more confidence in those decisions. That leads to water efficiency wins, so you’re applying the exact amount the plant needs. This avoids stress events that can compromise yield, and to optimise the quality of the fruit. So there are a range of benefits”.