Vineyard managers could one day use less water to irrigate their grape crops with a new technology being developed by an Okanagan company.
Geotronics Consulting Inc. has received a $192,000 government grant to develop a system that will allow real-time tracking of water use through sub-soil mapping. The technology could also be applied eventually to other farmed crops.
“At a time when water use is coming under justified scrutiny, we feel our project will allow more sustainable and profitable farming in BC and around the world,” Christopher Mark of Kaleden-based Vintality, a subsidiary of Geotronics, said in a Wednesday release from the government.
The grant is one of 10 worth more than $1 million funded through a federal-provincial agricultural program to address climate change and labor shortages, and to boost farmers’ profits.
Other projects involve work on a three-wheel electric powered mini tractor and a low emission dairy barn.
“Our agricultural workers are the first to feel the effects of climate change and, together with many partners, they are strongly committed to developing and adopting tools and practices to make agriculture increasingly sustainable,” Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said in the release .
On its website, Vintality says its precision irrigation project is also aimed at reducing fertilizer use and producing better quality grapes.
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