Innocent Drinks helps to develop water reduction app for farmers

Innocent Drinks has partnered with Spanish farmers and researchers at the University of Córdoba to develop a new app, which helps growers in southern Spain’s prolific strawberry production industry to reduce their water usage.

The app, called Irri-fresa, helps to calculate optimal times for irrigating crops and has resulted in a reduction in water usage of up to 40% – the equivalent of 1.7 billion litres of water in 2015.

The project is the result of four years’ worth of research into “a variety of irrigation equipment and water management approaches based on the different soil types, plant varieties and climate conditions”, according to The Guardian.

Encouraging farmers to participate was difficult as the costs associated with high water usage were relatively low, the London-based newspaper reported.

Innocent Drinks head of sustainability Jessica Sansom said of the scheme: “It’s part of our core values to try and leave things a little better than we found them. We also believe small actions can make a big difference.”

Alongside the app, the University of Córdoba has been offering free workshops and a water blog that made the case that reducing water usage would also lead to savings on energy, fertilising and labour costs for farmers, who, Sansom added, were generally “passionate about protecting” the local environment.