When you count every drop of water, we help apple growers make it count

The climate crisis is well beyond being a subject for heated debates. With extreme weather conditions, droughts and fires affecting the lives of millions of people across the globe - it has become a clear and immediate challenge.

Take for example Stanthorpe (part of the Granite Belt region of Queensland, Australia), who in 2019 were fighting some of the first blazes of what would become one of Australia's worst bushfire seasons. Today, after a severe (and long) drought has drained out local reservoirs, drinking water for the town needs to be freighted in. That is why those water trucks (Pictured by our Managing Director Mark Heyward) are filling their tanks 50km out of town.

This isn’t a scene from a new Mad Max installment but a reality for the people of Stanthorpe, who for the last 14 months depend on the crucial supply of 4 trucks carrying 40,000L of water, 5 times a day, every day. 2.5hr for the round trip, if you wondered....

Some of our apple growing farmers from the region, have to operate their own trucks to bring water to their orchards. And when counting every drop of water, we are helping make every drop counts.

In fact, our customers in the region are reporting that they are able to achieve better yields with less water. That is made possible when the apple trees can "tell" our growers where, when and how much water they need. With our plant sensors measuring their trees' water demand, growth rate and health in real time, growers can optimize irrigation and maximize production.

Paired with data from their fruit sensors, growers can "navigate" their apples' size to their set target and enjoy higer BRIX values with just the right amounts of irrigation. Being connected also to their irrigation system via our pressure sensors and getting Phytech's smart irrigation recommendations, give additional confidence that the trees are making the most out of every drop of precious water.

To learn more on how Phytech helps growers - and our planet - increase productivity while saving resources, visit our sustainability page .