Japanese representative Mr. Bill Gotto discussed with Mr. Khalid Boulrhazioui , Director of research and development for Serres Bertrand his thoughts and observations on the value of the DripCaps being used as a new standard of irrigation method in a commercial facility.
The Drip Cap a simple plastic cap that can be placed on top of a rockwool propagation cube or coco block. The basic function of the cap is that it serves as a vapor barrier to keep moisture in the block for a longer period of time. The water does not evaporate prematurely in the air, and as salt does not stay behind in the block, it is prevented that the EC of the block increases.Khalid Boulrhazioui is the director of research and development at Serres Bertrand. He said that the commercial tomato grower is so far impressed and pleased with the results and has plans to commence with a much larger trial in Feb 2017.
In the trial, the grower uses drip emitters that emit 25% less than their usual emitters, gaining absolute control over the reduced irrigation cycle. This reduced the needed resources for the crop with 25%, which are huge savings in terms of water and fertilizer usage.
Bill Gotto and Steven Gallo of CubeCap Canada visit the trials at Serres Bertrand
According to Steven Gallo, CEO of CubeCap Canada, even larger savings can be achieved. "Replacing the irrigation standard of Drip Stakes with our Drip Caps will reduce water and fertilizer usage from 30 to 50%."
Gallo claims that the 25% reduction in resources already translates to $4.56 in water savings plus a $.35 in fertilizer savings, which totals to almost 5$ savings per plant, per year. "These calculations based on a 1 acre facility with 11,000 tomato plants translates to over $50,000 in increased profit, per acre, per year", he concluded.
At this moment CubeCap Canada has Drip Caps being tested in Denmark, Kazakhstan, Finland, USA, Quebec and Holland. Growers who are interested in a trial are invited to contacted Steven Gallo for more information;
For more information: CubeCap Canada
Steven Gallo
[email protected]
www.cubecap.ca