Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) tool for soft fruit production in polytunnels

Working with growers and key stakeholders in Kent, and with funding from Kent County Council, researchers from Cranfield University have designed and developed a simple Microsoft Excel-based tool to help soft fruit growers and farm business advisors evaluate the hydrological performance and water storage effectiveness of RWH systems to support decision making regarding their viability for protected cropping. The tool was designed to be simple and intuitive to use and requires only a very limited set of farm level input data. The outputs include the MS excel RWH tool and a Guidance manual for end users.