A REVOLUTIONARY soil station that could help farmers and growers cut fertiliser use by up to 70% is seeing its official UK launch at LAMMA.

The station, created by Estonian company Paul-Tech, combines real-time proprietary sensor data taken at two levels in the soil with weather and satellite data to plot nutrient availability and movement through the soil.

The technology enables growers to make more informed decisions about when and how much fertiliser to use, to maximise nutrient uptake by the crop, preventing leaching, and increase profitability.

Insights are provided via an online dashboard that helps users get a clear picture of what is happening in their soil and how changing weather conditions, soil type, and other factors impact on the nutrients available.

The system is already in common use on commercial farms and horticultural businesses across Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, and its UK launch is set to revolutionise crop input efficiencies for farmers in Britain.

One Finish grower, Aleksi Uussaari, of AFC Uussaari, was able to reduce nitrogen use on his onion crop by 70% using the technology, while improving yield by 5%.

Mikk Plakk, Chief Executive of Paul-Tech, said the technology is the product of 30 years of soil research across more than 120 European and UK growers.

He said: "This soil station is the culmination of decades of research on creating the perfect soil environment to maximise crop yields. It's a simple but highly effective solution that delivers unparalleled insights to growers.

"The real-time updates and simple dashboard ensure growers know exactly what is going on in the soil at any time and this gives them the information they need to make decisions that save money and deliver maximum profit from their crops.

"The Paul-Tech station is transforming what we know about our soils and nutrient availability to the plant. With its official UK launch, UK farmers and growers will now be able to benefit from the vital data it provides, which will be key to ensuring they can continue to grow and prosper under new funding arrangements."

One UK grower that has seen significant success with the system is Peter Nowak, from TLC Sussex – G's Growers.

Peter partnered with Paul-Tech to trial the system and said the data and insights it provides create significant savings on fertiliser while delivering more resilient crops.

He described the technology as a 'game-changer'.

Peter said: "When applying fertiliser there is always a worry you might not be providing enough and starving the plant or, worse still, you may be providing too much and damaging the plant. The Paul-tech solution takes that worry away and stops any fertiliser going to waste.

"The probe helps us to assess what is happening in the soil at any moment and ensures we can make informed decisions about irrigation and nutrition. Better still, the sensors will give you an advance warning about water stress or nutrition challenge so there is time to react before the plant suffers.

"It's so important to know what is happening in the soil but all too often, for growers it can be a bit of a finger in the air when you're making fertiliser decisions. With this, you put the probe down and it takes all of the guesswork away.

"This is all about giving the grower confidence and, ultimately, you get a great crop."

The Paul-Tech soil station sees its official UK launch at LAMMA at Birmingham NEC on January 17 and 18. To find out more about it, and for interviews, visit Paul-Tech's exhibition stand at 7 830.

To see how much you could save by using an online calculator, visit the website at www.paul-tech.com.