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Water scarcity and salinity pose significant challenges for agriculture in the Galapagos Islands, severely limiting crop yields needed to sustainably meet the growing demands of the human population in the archipelago. To address this issue, environmentally friendly water-saving technologies such as Hydrogel and Groasis Growboxx were considered to be potential solutions. This study focused on evaluating the effectiveness of Hydrogel application on five crops: Broccoli (Brassica oleracea), Cucumber (Cucumis melo), Pepper (Capsicum annuum), Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), and Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), from 2017 to 2018. The experiment stopped due to the pandemic in 2019–2020. When the study continued in 2021, Growboxx® was introduced as a treatment for Pepper and Tomato. This study revealed that the application of Hydrogel resulted in enhanced yields, with the degree of improvement varying across different crops and cultivation periods. Notably, when comparing Hydrogel and Growboxx treatments, differences of up to 30% in fruit weight were observed. However, it is important to note that these results can vary in different environments. For example, in Tomato cultivation, Growboxx exhibited 10% higher fruit weight in San Cristobal compared to Santa Cruz Island. Our findings provide valuable insights for stakeholders in the Galapagos Islands, offering crop-specific guidance to support informed decisions on adopting the most appropriate technologies for their farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture in the populated islands of the Galapagos Archipelago, a protected area due to its unique biodiversity, has been detrimental to its conservation but highly required to meet food necessities. A potential solution to make agricultural farming more sustainable is adopting water-saving technologies (WSTs). Therefore, this study aimed to test the effectiveness of using WSTs such as Groasis Waterboxx® in three of the most valuable crops in the islands through participatory research with the involvement of a group of farmers from the Floreana and Santa Cruz islands and explore a possible transition to more sustainable agricultural practices. Capsicum annuum, Cucumis sativus and Solanum lycopersicum were cultivated using Groasis Waterboxx® and compared to conventional irrigation practices (drip-irrigated controls) to assess the variability of productivity, the number of fruits and individual fruit weight (IFW). In addition, differences in plant traits were analyzed by crop, and island. Results suggested that WSTs such as Groasis Waterboxx® may provide on-farm benefits regarding the yields of the studied traits. From this study, it is difficult to determine whether participation in such a research study will permanently change irrigation practices. However, the participant's responses to the study suggest an increase in their understanding of the use and benefits of WST. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity and salinity pose significant challenges for agriculture in the Galapagos Islands, severely limiting crop yields needed to sustainably meet the growing demands of the human population in the archipelago. To address this issue, environmentally friendly water-saving technologies such as Hydrogel and Groasis Growboxx were considered to be potential solutions. This study focused on evaluating the effectiveness of Hydrogel application on five crops: Broccoli (Brassica oleracea), Cucumber (Cucumis melo), Pepper (Capsicum annuum), Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), and Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), from 2017 to 2018. The experiment stopped due to the pandemic in 2019–2020. When the study continued in 2021, Growboxx® was introduced as a treatment for Pepper and Tomato. This study revealed that the application of Hydrogel resulted in enhanced yields, with the degree of improvement varying across different crops and cultivation periods. Notably, when comparing Hydrogel and Growboxx treatments, differences of up to 30% in fruit weight were observed. However, it is important to note that these results can vary in different environments. For example, in Tomato cultivation, Growboxx exhibited 10% higher fruit weight in San Cristobal compared to Santa Cruz Island. Our findings provide valuable insights for stakeholders in the Galapagos Islands, offering crop-specific guidance to support informed decisions on adopting the most appropriate technologies for their farms.

Intercropping can increase land use efficiency in high tunnel crop production, but it may also lead to decreases in yield and quality of main crops due to the potential competition for resources. This study evaluated the agronomic viability of intercropping snow pea (Pisum sativum L., ‘Ho Lan Dou’) with cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. var. cerasiforme ‘Sarina hybrid’) without additional inputs of water and fertilizers on peas in an organic high tunnel production system under Southern Ontario climate conditions in Guelph, Ontario, Canada (lat. 43.5 °N, long. 80.2 °W) during 2015 and 2016. In each 80-cm-wide bed, the tomato crops were planted alternately in double rows spaced 30 cm apart, with in-row spacing of 110 cm, which resulted in a planting density of ≈24,000 plants/ha. The snow pea seeds were sown between the tomato plants (i.e., within the same beds as tomatoes) in holes (two seeds per hole), with four rows in each bed and in-row holes spaced 10 cm and at least 25 cm away from the tomato plants, which resulted in a seeding rate of ≈650, 000 seeds/ha. The same amount of water or fertilizer was applied to the intercropping and nonintercropping plots based on the needs of the cherry tomato plants. Plant growth, fruit yield, and quality were compared between tomato plants with and without intercropping. Intercropping with snow peas did not affect total marketable fruit yield, unmarketable fruit percentage, fruit quality traits (e.g., individual fruit weight, soluble solids content, dry matter content, and postharvest water loss), or early-stage plant growth of the cherry tomato. Therefore, it is at least an agronomical possibility to intercrop snow peas with cherry tomatoes on the same beds without additional inputs of water and fertilizer on snow peas in an organic high tunnel system. The additional yield of pea shoots or pods in the intercropping treatment also increased economic gross returns in the high tunnels, although the economic net return might vary with the costs of seeds and labor involved in snow pea growing.

Agriculture in the populated islands of the Galapagos Archipelago, a protected area due to its unique biodiversity, has been detrimental to its conservation but highly required to meet food necessities. A potential solution to make agricultural farming more sustainable is adopting water-saving technologies (WSTs). Therefore, this study aimed to test the effectiveness of using WSTs such as Groasis Waterboxx® in three of the most valuable crops in the islands through participatory research with the involvement of a group of farmers from the Floreana and Santa Cruz islands and explore a possible transition to more sustainable agricultural practices. Capsicum annuum, Cucumis sativus and Solanum lycopersicum were cultivated using Groasis Waterboxx® and compared to conventional irrigation practices (drip-irrigated controls) to assess the variability of productivity, the number of fruits and individual fruit weight (IFW). In addition, differences in plant traits were analyzed by crop, and island. Results suggested that WSTs such as Groasis Waterboxx® may provide on-farm benefits regarding the yields of the studied traits. From this study, it is difficult to determine whether participation in such a research study will permanently change irrigation practices. However, the participant’s responses to the study suggest an increase in their understanding of the use and benefits of WST.