Putting pulse fertigation to the test

For strawberry grower Brendon Hoyle of Ashbern Farms, getting the most from every fertiliser application is about more than crop nutrition. It is about making sure valuable inputs are reaching the crop when they are needed, rather than being lost along the way.

That is the thinking behind an on-farm pulse fertigation project at Ashbern Farms, supported through the incentive grant component of the South East Queensland (SEQ) Horticulture Best Management Practice (BMP) Incentive Program, funded by the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI) and delivered by Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers (QFVG).

The project is investigating whether delivering nutrients in multiple short bursts during an irrigation event can improve nutrient use efficiency and reduce the potential for nutrient losses. The incentive grant will support the purchasing and installation of a fertigation timer system, enabling Ashbern Farms to test the practice under commercial conditions and compare it with the farm’s existing fertigation approach.A July 2026 study in wheat investigated the capability of pulse irrigation schedules compared to standard continuous flow. This study in wheat reported findings of decreased deep percolation losses by 53%, increased water use efficiency (WUE) by 41% and increased yield by 23%.

For Brendon, the attraction is simple: greater control over what is being delivered to the crop.

"Pulse fertigation will help us apply nutrients more precisely and at the right time for the crop. It will give us better control over our fertiliser program, while also having greater confidence that nutrients are staying in the root zone where the plants can use them," Brendon said.

A different way to fertigate

Fertigation is already an important tool for intensive horticultural production, allowing growers to deliver nutrients through the irrigation system alongside water.

Pulse fertigation takes that approach a step further.

Rather than applying nutrients continuously throughout an irrigation event, nutrients are delivered in several shorter bursts. The aim is to better match nutrient delivery with the movement of water through the root zone and the crop’s demand for nutrients.

For crops such as strawberries, where careful management of water and nutrients is critical to maintaining productivity and crop quality, that level of control could offer practical benefits.

The project will help build a clearer picture of how the approach performs under commercial growing conditions and whether it can provide a useful alternative for growers looking to fine-tune their fertigation programs. While capital investment poses a barrier for implementation, the approach has the potential to generate returns through improved water and nutrient use efficiency, reduced leaching losses and crop performance.

Making inputs work harder

Improving nutrient efficiency is increasingly important for growers managing rising input costs while also looking for ways to minimise nutrient losses while maximising returns on dollars spent.

Pulse fertigation has the potential to improve the uniformity and timing of nutrient delivery, helping more of the applied fertiliser remain available to the crop. It may also reduce the risk of nutrients moving beyond the root zone, particularly when irrigation and fertiliser applications are carefully managed.

For growers, the potential benefits are practical: using fertiliser more efficiently, reducing input wastage, improving nutrient distribution and supporting crop performance.

There can also be benefits beyond the farm gate. Reducing nutrient losses can help protect local waterways and improve water quality across Southeast Queensland’s catchments. This also reflects Brendon’s focus on environmental stewardship, beyond the operational and economic benefits of pulsing technology.

The value of the project, however, is in finding out what works in a real, in-ground strawberry production system in the Pumicestone, to help give other growers confidence in the adoption of this practice.

The project is giving Brendon the opportunity to test the approach, to assess and share the results and determine whether it has a place in his farm’s fertiliser management program.

Measuring whether it stacks up

For this project, the important question is not simply whether pulse fertigation can be installed, but what changes when it is used. The approved project design will compare a pulsed schedule with the current continuous flow schedule, and track the reduction of nutrient leaching loss via piezometers, fertiliser input changes, input cost reduction and yield changes.

The project is at the testing stage, so no Ashbern Farms performance claims are being made yet. Once sufficient data has been collected, QFVG will share the measured results, including what the change means for nutrient use, crop performance and, where the approved data allow, costs and returns.

Growers testing what works

The pulse fertigation trial is one of a range of projects being supported through the SEQ Horticulture BMP Incentive Programand funded by Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI) and, delivered by Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers (QFVG)

The program is designed to help growers put best management practices into action through practical demonstrations, technical support, peer-to-peer learning, grower engagement and incentive funding.

For growers, that means opportunities to see practices being tested in real farming situations, learn from other growers and consider what could work on their own properties.

And that is ultimately what the Ashbern Farms project is about: finding practical ways to make every input and dollar spent count.

For Brendon, pulse fertigation is an opportunity to test whether a relatively simple change in the way nutrients are delivered can improve efficiency without compromising productivity.

If the results stack up, it could give other strawberry growers another tool to consider when looking at their own fertigation programs – demonstrating that better nutrient management can be good for both the crop, the catchment and bottom line.

For more information about the SEQ Horticulture BMP Incentive Program, contact the project team.

References: Vaibhav, Ram & Patel, G. (2026). COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SOIL WETTING PATTERN UNDER PULSE AND CONTINUOUS FLOW DRIP IRRIGATION AND ITS EFFECT ON WATER PRODUCTIVITY, GROWTH AND YIELD OF WHEAT CROP (Triticum aestivium L.). 10.13140/RG.2.2.22281.20324.

QFVG’s SEQ Horticulture BMP Incentive Program is funded by the Queensland Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation.