A new system for growing vegetables will use less water and produce less carbon pollution – a win for the farmer, the consumer and the environment. Queensland hydroponic vegetable grower Ray Bertinazzi has been funded by a Woolworths Fresh Food Future grant, administered by Landcare Australia, to install a water-recycling system sourced from the Netherlands that will enable him to grow vegetables using a third of the usually required water and fertiliser. The system sterilises used hydroponic water that, in the past, would have been dumped and redirects the clean water back into the hydroponic system or out onto field crops. More than 70 per cent of the carbon pollution generated by vegetable growing stems from the use of electricity and fertiliser. Because Ray now only has to extract one lot of bore water to produce up to three crops, he is saving significantly on these resources, as well as on water. It makes a big difference to the carbon footprint of vegetable production.
Ray Bertinazzi expects to reduce his annual fertiliser costs by up to 40 per cent and his water use by seven megalitres by using recycled nutrient water from his hydroponic vegetable enterprise to irrigate his field-based bean operation.
Funded by a Woolworths Fresh Food Future grant, administered by Landcare Australia, the
Bertinazzi recycling project will deliver environmental and financial benefits to the family-run vegetable operation.
Ray, his wife Nancy and son Bradley own and operate Bratasha Farm on the Queensland–NSW border about 2.5 hours south-west of Brisbane. The farm incorporates a field and hydroponic enterprise that supplies fresh vegetables year-round to Woolworths.
Bratasha Farm has been supplying Woolworths since they established more than 18 years ago.
They produce beans from a 200 hectare field operation, and Asian vegetables, baby cos lettuce and shallots from a 2ha hydroponic system.
The Bertinazzis set up the hydroponic system in response to a series of drought years and the rising input costs associated with their field-based operation. “We wanted to iron out some of the risks associated with the poor seasons and better control our inputs, which the hydroponic system enables,” Ray explains.
After an initial outlay, hydroponic systems are relatively cost-effective to operate. They have fewer pest and disease problems and need less chemicals and water than field-based operations.
Copyright Landcare Australia 2012

The grant has been used partly to engage an irrigation consultant to develop a system to store and treat Bratasha Farm’s waste hydroponic water so that it can be re-used, either in the hydroponic enterprise or to irrigate the field-based bean operation.
“We have sourced water treatment technology from the Netherlands, which has a long established hydroponic industry and world-leading expertise in waste water recycling,” Ray says.
Ray will install a 100,000-litre storage tank and pumping system to collect the used hydroponic water after each six-week vegetable growing cycle. The water will be treated using ozone and infrared technology to remove any water-borne plant diseases, such as pythium and phytophthora root rots.
Bratasha Farm is accredited within the strict Woolworths quality assurance process, which requires regular testing of vegetables, and irrigation and hydroponic systems, for food safety factors such as parasites and nitrate levels.
“Until now, our waste hydroponic water has been pumped into holding dams and not re-used,”
Rays says. “The recycling system will enable us to use the water and nutrients that would otherwise be discarded to grow another crop, which represents substantial savings in fertiliser and water.”
Water will now be used two or three times, and Ray calculates that the recycling system will reduce the farm’s annual water use by seven megalitres and save him up to $15,000 a year in fertiliser.
Rising input costs, particularly for fertiliser, are placing continual pressure on Bratasha Farm’s bottom line. Although the farm is not large enough to be taxed directly under the Australian carbon pricing scheme, Ray anticipates that his costs will rise as electricity, fertiliser and transport costs flow through to the farm from elsewhere in the supply chain.
“Anything that can help us become more efficient is of huge benefit to the viability of our business. Nutrients in our hydroponic system alone cost us $5000 each month,” he says.
Following treatment, nutrient levels in the recycled water will be assessed and adjusted to match the requirements of the hydroponic system or the field-based bean crops.
Nutrient, electrolyte and pH levels are pre-set and adjusted automatically within the hydroponic system. For the field crop, soil and sap tests will be used to determine how much nutrient is being delivered by the recycled water and what field applications are needed.
Copyright Landcare Australia 2012

Ray believes the Bratasha Farm recycling project will also deliver environmental benefits.
“Where previously we were pumping bore water for each vegetable crop, now we will only pump one lot of bore water to produce three cycles of vegetables. This will mean we are using less electricity and generating less carbon pollution.”
The anticipated 30 to 40 per cent reduction in fertiliser use will further reduce the farm’s carbon footprint, which will be monitored once the project is fully established.
Ray used the Vegetable Carbon Calculator to determine Bratasha Farm’s carbon footprint before the project was established, and he will assess his footprint again once the recycling system is in place and fully operational. Developed by Horticulture Australia, the Vegetable
Carbon Calculator is used across the vegetable industry to estimate the greenhouse gas emissions of on-farm vegetable production systems.
Electricity use associated with the pumping of irrigation water and nitrous oxide emissions from nitrogen fertiliser account for 70 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions from the Australian vegetable industry. A field day to demonstrate the environmental and commercial value of the
Bertinazzi water recycling system will be held during 2013.
“It will be interesting to see how much our emissions have fallen once we are using less electricity and fertiliser,” Ray says.
Copyright Landcare Australia 2012