Tomato cultivation has a high water demand, which can range between 5,000 and 7,000 m³/ha, depending on the growing area and climatic conditions.
Ensuring the right water supply while avoiding waste can be a major challenge, especially during the summer months, when water availability is lower and phenomena such as crop evapotranspiration intensify.
Drip irrigation
The main method is drip irrigation, which ensures that each plant receives the right supply of water and nutrients, with maximum efficiency even at low pressure.
Irritec Iberia, a leading company in the precision irrigation sector, responds to this need with products that are ideal for tomato cultivation and stand out for the quality and technology of their materials. These include P1® and P0® drip tapes with flat emitters, as well as IrritecTape® and eXXtreme Tape continuous labyrinth drip tapes.
The P0® and P1® flat emitter drip tapes are flagship products for the company: solutions recognised worldwide for their reliability, versatility, resistance and excellent performance.
Irritec’s flat emitters are the ideal solution for distances greater than 20 cm, ensuring uniform irrigation, extremely low pressure losses, ease of installation and adaptability to the terrain. Both lines offer a wide range of thicknesses and flow rates, as well as an integrated filter to prevent clogging.
In the case of very close plant spacing or sandy and highly draining soils, continuous labyrinth drip tape ensures maximum uniformity even over long lengths. IrritecTape® is a benchmark product in this field, thanks to its excellent resistance to pressure peaks, even with minimum thicknesses, and its high performance in terms of uniformity, including during fertigation cycles.
It is manufactured through a single extrusion process, avoiding problems related to tape welding. In addition, the laser-cut water outlet reduces the intrusion of solid particles and roots.
eXXtreme Tape
eXXtreme Tape is the continuous labyrinth drip tape that, while maintaining all the features of IrritecTape, guarantees excellent filtering performance even when using water with a high content of solid particles. This is achieved thanks to the presence of a double continuous inlet filter, designed with an exclusive system patented by Irritec.
One of the strengths of Irritec Iberia’s offer is its in-depth knowledge of the needs of Spanish growers, supported by a consolidated presence in the territory.
This is reflected in the experience of Irritec customers such as Alfredo Lobato and Antonio Navarro, owners of farms in the Utrera area, in the province of Seville.
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“We turned to Irritec to integrate our tomato irrigation systems,” explained Alfredo Lobato. “For us, Irritec is a trusted partner, thanks to which we have incorporated equipment capable of increasing efficiency in the use of water resources, reducing waste and reaching all the plants in our crops uniformly.”
“Irritec equipment is recognised for its quality and performance,” said Antonio Navarro. “What has also made the difference is the ease of installation and the support received. It is truly an excellent partner for simplifying farmers’ work and reducing water consumption.”
In addition to irrigation, fertigation also plays a key role in tomato ripening, as it influences fruit quality and the pack-out rate.
Irritec offers a complete range of injection systems, dosing pumps and automatic fertigation systems. The company’s work is not limited to supplying products, but also includes support in designing the most suitable system for each customer’s specific needs, as well as technical advice throughout the entire life cycle of the product.
