NUTRISENS Soil Nitrate and Potassium Sensor

Reading the data

The nitrate and potassium sensor works in any type of soil. Its data is read much like that of capacitance soil moisture probes: you build up a history for each particular soil and learn its upper and lower levels from experience. The probe shows the nitrate trend at root level, so you can tell whether the plant is taking up the nitrate supplied through irrigation or whether it is building up.

What NUTRISENS tells you

• Fertigation reach: how deep the fertilizers applied to the crop are getting.
• Uptake without fertigation: whether the plant is absorbing nitrate and potassium or not.
• Balance under fertigation: whether nitrate and potassium inputs exceed consumption, that is, whether the balance is positive or negative. Compare the nutrient concentration of the fertigation with the nitrate and potassium level in the soil: a higher soil level means nutrients are accumulating; a lower one means consumption exceeds the concentration supplied. That balance guides the decision to cut or raise nutrient input.
• Weather effects: how weather (VPD, temperature, etc.) affects nutrient uptake by the plant.
• Organic farming: understanding the nitrification of organic matter in organic crops.
• Leaching: detecting nitrate leaching toward groundwater, which helps minimize aquifer contamination, something required in some circumstances to comply with increasingly strict legislation (91/676/EC, 2003/1882/EC, 98/83/EC).

The probe gives practical agriculture information that was not available until now, including how climate and phenology shape these dynamics.