An excellent article from the prestigious F y H magazine in Spain which reinforces that when it comes to water management and saving, Aqualatus/Integrate is the best technology available!

The report from the specialised magazine Revista FyH highlights that Integrate is currently the leading surfactant for optimising water usage in Spanish greenhouse crops. According to the trials conducted at the Tecnova Technology Center, Integrate achieves a remarkable 47% water savings in greenhouse cultivation. This data underscores Integrate’s effectiveness and positions it as a top choice for farmers looking to enhance water efficiency in their operations.

Translated article below:

Here is the English translation of the article:

AUXILIARY INDUSTRY

Integrate stands out as a reference among surfactants. The number of surfactants on the market has increased due to the need to optimize water usage. Currently, Integrate has shown the best results in water savings for greenhouse crops in Spain, according to trials revealed by various companies. Different tests and trials conducted on both greenhouse and open-field crops, using various surfactants and soil wetting agents, have shown that Integrate, from Engage, is the most effective surfactant in terms of water savings. To date, no trial has surpassed the 47% water savings achieved by Integrate in a test conducted in May 2018 at the Tecnova Foundation in Almería, on a zucchini crop, where water savings of up to 47% were achieved in a May transplant, improving yield by 6% compared to the same crop without any surfactant.

The trials conducted at the Tecnova Foundation show that Integrate achieves 47% water savings in greenhouse crops. Furthermore, among the trials received from companies operating with surfactants, it is the only one conducted by an accredited organization under greenhouse cultivation conditions in southern Spain.

TRIALS

Most surfactants on the market have not undergone testing by specialized institutions or organizations to assess their performance, and they rely solely on particular trials conducted under different conditions without providing arguments or details. The most common argument used by technicians to show the credibility of a surfactant is to compare it to Integrate from Engage, as Fernando Toresano, technical director of Nutricrop, did on June 19, 2024, at the IX Congress of Red Fruits held in Huelva, where he stated that River FL “is a product similar to Integrate” to a group of professionals.

COMPARISONS

Integrate is the product that competitors should follow, not only for its water-saving results based on the Tecnova Foundation trial under greenhouse conditions but also for its ingredients and technology. It uses molecules formed by a hydrophilic head and a hydrophobic tail, which favors the lateral displacement of water in soils with 64% Tri Block Co-polymers and 19% Glucoethers. The Tri Block factor is the same argument used by other surfactants, but a laboratory in the UK shows that Integrate has several advantages over the rest of the products that claim to be similar. Integrate’s advantages include a higher viscosity, which allows for better water penetration into the soil and greater horizontal displacement of water, “facilitating the slowing of water loss from the soil under warmer conditions,” according to the laboratory. It also shows a higher speed of substrate hydration and greater water content per unit of soil.

WATER SAVINGS

Integrate, exclusively marketed in Spain by Agroliner, is not the only product to have shown data on water savings. The multinational ICL has H2Gro, a surfactant that increased root hairs in a horticultural crop to the point where “untreated plants in the H2Gro trial had an average of 22 root hairs per centimeter of root, compared to 236 root hairs per centimeter in the H2Gro-treated crop,” according to ICL. The trial conducted by ICL revealed a 25% water saving in a 12-week tomato crop.

ICL also mentions that, in addition to tomatoes, tests have been conducted on strawberries, potatoes, peppers, melons, carrots, and apples, with very diverse results ranging from 13% savings in strawberries to 25% in avocados.

THE RANGE

Riegogel, ZEBA, or Transformer belong to the segment of historical surfactants present in the opportunities market. UPL states that ZEBA can save up to 38% of water but does not specify the crop profile or conditions. Transformer is from the firm Tradecorp, which claims this surfactant offers results in citrus, strawberries, stone fruits, and vegetables.