Improve water management with ICL at Fruit Focus

With water efficiency becomes a growing challenge in many fruit crops, ICL’s will be showcasing its water conservation and management agent H2Flo on its stand, and at two seminars, at Fruit Focus next month. 

“Water conservation is a key global ICL initiative,” says ICL Specialty Agriculture Technical Sales Manager, Dr Richard Collins.  “It is essential for fruit growers to manage water effectively to help tackle issues such as scarcity, crop quality and production costs. 

“Trials conducted by the Fruit Advisory Services Team  (FAST), at Brogdale Farm, have shown H2Flo can reduce irrigation in apple orchards, ie total water usage, with no detrimental impact on yield or quality. We have on-going trials in coir-grown strawberry crops looking at H2Flo’s impact on initial wetting up of slabs, on water distribution within the slabs and overall water efficiency.

“H2Flo is set to improve water efficiency in a wide range of field and coir-grown fruit crops. Unlike single shot penetrants, it has the benefit of offering a residual effect over several weeks.”

Visitors to Fruit Focus can take advantage of two H2Flo seminars where Richard will explain the principles of how this unique blend of surfactants work, as well as its practical features and benefits.   

Another highlight of the ICL stand will be a new app for Nova PeKacid, the patented highly acidifying and 100% soluble potassium and phosphate fertigation fertilizer - recommended for areas with hard water or calcareous soils.  

“PeKacid neatly does away with the need to use potentially hazardous liquid acids in areas with hard water,” explains Richard.  “To use ICL’s handy new PeKacid app, growers simply need to input the pH of the irrigation water, the bicarbonate levels, ie the hardness, and the pH they require. Using a formula, the app then works out the quantity of PeKacid required.” 

By lowering pH, PeKacid enhances nutrient uptake and also has anti-clogging action.  Chloride and sodium free, it contains solid phosphoric acid in a dry form thus combining the advantages and efficiency of phosphoric acid with the ease and safety of a solid crystalline fertilizer.

The ICL stand will feature a number of additional products including Agroblen – the controlled release NPK fertilizer ideal for application when planting apple orchards, doing away with the need for fertigation.

Visitors to the show are warmly invited to join ICL for a hog roast – stand 404.