A Danish agro-scientist has come up with a method of potato irrigation that he claims could save growers between 10 and 20 percent of their water usage.
Ali Shahnazari, whose PhD research concerns saving water in tropical and subtropical areas is working at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at University of Aarhus, in Denmark.
His method consists of irrigating the potatoes alternately first on one side and then on the other side, resulting in less total water usage.
Each individual root tip in a plant acts as a sensor that constantly registers the amount of water in the soil. If there are dry areas, then the root calls the alarm and sends a hormonal signal to the top of the plant to reduce water evaporation.
The new irrigation method also includes an unexpected benefit: the yield of saleable eating potatoes has increased by up to 15 percent.
Ali Shahnazari will defend his PhD, ‘Water saving irrigation strategies in potatoes,’ in July. The research project has been conducted in collaboration between University of Aarhus and University of Copenhagen.
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