Water-Saving Technologies in Galapagos Agriculture: A Step towards Sustainability

Abstract

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.

Assessing Water-Saving Technologies and the Impact of Giant Tortoise Herbivory on the Restoration of Opuntia megasperma var. orientalis on Española Island—Galapagos

“…This underscores the effectiveness of water-saving technologies in influencing this particular trait. The benefits of Hydrogel were demonstrated in other studies [24,29,30], but, contrastingly, when hydrogel was combined with the Waterboxx treatment, our results showed lower performance than the Waterboxx treated plants and the untreated plants.…”

“…The Hydrogel solution was meticulously prepared by adding 1.75 g of Hydrogel powder per liter of water, using a methodology consistent with previous studies conducted in the Galapagos Islands [24,29,30,35]. To initiate the planting procedure, a hole was excavated and five liters of Hydrogel solution was subsequently applied to enhance soil hydration.…”

“…Incorporating such technologies may significantly enhance the success of ecological restoration efforts by providing shade and protective cover to optimize plant growth, reduce evapotranspiration rates, and extend water access periods [5,[24][25][26][27]. In addition, Hydrogel, a polymer matrix able to absorb several times its mass in water [27,28], can play a pivotal role in increasing plant water availability and resilience, as shown by previous research in the Galapagos Islands [25,29,30].…”

Water Quality from Natural Sources for Sustainable Agricultural Development Strategies: Galapagos, Ecuador

“…Only San Cristobal has a permanent source of fresh water (the natural lagoon El Junco, in the mountainous area) [67]. However, freshwater natural availability is not enough to cover local agricultural needs, so on the four islands, rainwater provision on roofs and reservoirs [68] is common; currently, there are around 154 reservoirs [69]. Also, to improve agricultural development, state projects have promoted the use of greenhouses [70] and the conditioning of natural structures for water collection (e.g., Crater in the Cerro Cascajo-Camote sector in Santa Cruz) [71].…”