Know the land well to optimize its use.
This is the idea behind a joint research project involving the universities of Évora and Extremadura,
the La Orden Valdesequera Estate, and the Centre for Irrigation Operation and Technology.
This research is based on gathering data on the soil and crops in the field.
We analyze this information and it lets us see how the crop develops, study how it varies with location and time,
and define areas where the farmer can apply the factors of production more precisely.
Factors of precision such as irrigation, fertilizers or plant protection products.
This uses several techniques.
Determining the physicochemical properties of the soil is always done by analyzing samples taken in the field.
We're trying to use a technology to measure the apparent electrical conductivity of the soil, which is a much easier parameter to measure,
and which is related to the physical characteristics of the soil,
and then this allows us to extrapolate taking much fewer soil samples than in traditional methods.
And we also hope to understand how we can use the vegetation indices as a way to simplify production management.
They hope to validate these data collection technologies
and make it easy for wine producers of the Euroace region to fine-tune their land management.
This is the added value of this research.
The quality of wines always depends heavily on the quality of the product that arrives from the field, the grapes in this case.
Any technologies which might improve the quality of the grape produced by the land will facilitate
and help the production of wines of better quality.
This is how our wines will be given a competitive advantage.