Watch: Smart water use in SA apple orchards
Water use in the agricultural sector has increasingly become an important topic after the industry was severely affected by the drought, especially in the Western and Northern Cape.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has put together a team of scientists to study the water use of apple orchards in the Western Cape to determine how much water apple trees use in each growth cycle. Thus, water use will be measured from the very start as non-bearing young trees right up to fully matured apple trees that yield anything from 80 tonnes per hectare.
One of the researchers, Zanele Ntshidi, who is doing her PhD through the University of the Western Cape, explains in the video below how water use in orchards is measured.
About the author
Ntswaki Motaung, AgriOrbit