During the past couple of years, ever more extremely hot days have occurred – with the accompanying damage caused by sunburn. Fruit growers with a sprinkler installation over the trees, use it to cool their apples or pears. A disadvantage is that the trees become wet as a result of which scab, canker and fruit rot infestations can occur. During the Proeftuin Randwijk open day, Dutch importer TSG-climate technology showed a cooling system developed by agrarkurtsystem Research Centre from South Tyrol (Italy). Water is nebulised over the trees here. Because the fine droplets (comparable to fog) vaporise before falling on the leaves or fruits, these do not become wet. The installation has a pulsating operation, which needs less water. The nebulising requires a totally new installation for the orchard, in addition to the drip or sprinkler installation that may already be present. Further research is taking place on how far spring frost sprinkling can also be done with the nebulising installation. Nebulising installations are also used in cow-sheds, for instance, to cool cattle. (Source: EFM)
Nebulising trees to cool
