ZIM Plant Technology Makes ‘Talking to Plants’ a Reality

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ZIM Plant Technology Makes ‘Talking to Plants’ a Reality

New Zealand growers can now follow in the footsteps of Prince Charles…by talking to their plants.

But, they won’t need to have daily verbal conversations. Instead, growers can communicate directly with their crops, following the launch of the unique ZIM probe system in New Zealand. The irrigation-on-demand system works by directly communicating with plants and trees to determine their water requirements, putting the grower in complete control of when and how much water plants receive. In addition to being convenient and cost-effective, the ZIM system offers significant environmental benefits, including up to a 40% reduction in water use and significant reductions in fuel consumption.

Manufactured in Germany, the internationally renowned system works by placing a non-invasive, magnetic patch clamp pressure probe onto the plant leaf to measure changes of turgor pressure. The system then directly delivers precise information on the plants’ water status via wireless data transfer. This enables growers to more accurately determine and deliver the optimum water requirements and set irrigation thresholds in accordance with the actual water demand of the plant.

The benefits to growers and the New Zealand environment are numerous;

· Production – increase of yield by up to 30% and improved crop quality

Water efficiency - reduction of water use by up to 40%
Fuel efficiency - potential significant power savings due to irrigation-on-demand
Fertilser optimisation - applications can be scheduled to meet water demand of the plant resulting in reduced fertiliser application.
Land protection - prevention of salinisation and erosion of agricultural lands due to incorrect irrigation
Plant protection - prevention of over-irrigation and water logging
Protection of waterways – delivers better protection for waterways and streams through optimising water and fertiliser application, which in turn, reduces water and fertiliser run-off
Safer drinking water – helps reduce the eutrophication of drinking water resources

Iris Tscharntke, Director of Auckland EnviroConsult and NZ distributor of ZIM Plant Technology, says that the system could help revolutionise growing in New Zealand, particularly in the fields of forestry, vegetable, fruit and grapevine production.

“Traditionally, achieving the optimum water content has been time-consuming, involving constant plant monitoring, expensive, due to excessive power use, and inefficient, through unnecessary over-watering,” explains Iris. “Now, with the arrival of the ZIM probe system in New Zealand, growers have a convenient, relatively low-cost, non-invasive means of communicating with their crops to ensure successful results.”

For more information on ZIM Plant Technology contact Iris Tscharntke, Auckland EnviroConsult Limited, Phone: 09 236 3576 Mobile: 027 466 1151, Email: itscharn@xtra.co.nz or see www.zim-plant-technology.com .

ENDS

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