The project 'Evaluation of the potential of local water-capture and storage measures for agriculture in Limburg' started on 1 March 2021. This project was approved within the Drought Innovation Fund (DIF). This fund was established by the Province of Limburg in 2020 to make the Limburg agriculture and horticulture sector more resilient to drought.
This project evaluates the potential of different local water-capture and water-storage measures in Limburg, using a protocol to evaluate all relevant aspects of a given measure.
In this way, the practical and financial feasibility of these measures is examined in detail. Among other things, water collection at farm/field level, use of treated water from sewage treatment plants and industry, level-controlled drainage, etc. are discussed. At present, this feasibility and profitability often remains unclear to the fruit grower/farmer.
However, evaluating this is crucial before implementing a measure. In the first instance, this will make maximum use of the information already available and gained from other projects, although it will also be necessary to carry out some analyses to get a better idea of, for example, water quality.
The output of the project aims to ensure that individual farmers and horticulturists can quickly and clearly see which measures can definitely or definitely not apply on their farms. The project will therefore result in a ready-to-use "tool" for farmers and horticulturists.
