Giving irrigators the green light
Making easy to use advanced precision irrigation systems is the key to wider investment and increasing the efficiency of farm water usage.
This is one of the issues that panellists discussed at the University of Melbourne’s August Water Security Series webinar, ‘Sensing and Analytics for Precision Irrigation’. Watch the video recording here
The panel agreed that sensing and analytical tools are improving, but complexity and commercial uncertainty can make farmers reluctant to try latest technology. This delays irrigation efficiency gains being made.
“We need to make it simple to use, actionable and ready for an irrigator to operate, whether it’s a green light, red light or amber light, it’s got to be simple to use.”
Event speaker Peter Moller, the Business Development Manager – USA from Rubicon Water, says it is now possible to integrate thermal, spatial, site-specific, climatic sensors, data analytics and technology into the management of irrigation systems. This can help irrigators to know more precisely when to apply water to crops through actions that are predictive and prescriptive.
“We’ve now got the tools and the computers to be able to do that a lot more effectively,” he says. And the delivery of this information to irrigators should be as easy to understand as traffic lights.
“We need to make it simple to use, actionable and ready for an irrigator to operate, whether it’s a green light, red light or amber light, it’s got to be simple to use.”
Professor Pablo Zarco-Tejada the University of Melbourne agrees. “Complexity is one of the key factors that has to be solved,” he says.
This includes explaining the technology in ways that end users can understand and therefore support. He says those selling irrigation systems tech need to understand that some of the farmers’ hesitation reflects the complexity of farming – the interaction of soils, water, weather and plants. Sellers need to be better able to explain that to farmers and showcase the benefits of precision systems. He also discussed about the overselling of new technologies in the context of agriculture.
“I think a typical picture that we see everywhere is of a farmer holding a drone, and that is a very simplistic representation on how technology can help growers”.
As a result, some widely adopted technologies are producing perverse results and hindering progress. For instance, limiting the use of sensors in irrigated agriculture to only those capable of being carried by drones “has been a step back in remote sensing science”, Professor Zarco-Tejada says.
I think a typical picture that we see everywhere is of a farmer holding a drone, and that is a very simplistic representation on how technology can help growers
Industry projects are being abandoned not because of sensor capabilities, but due to the perception that the sensing need to be operated by drones. Ninety per cent of drone vendors are using sensing technology that is supposedly new – “but it is the same remote sensing science behind that we have been using for the last 30 years”, Professor Zarco-Tejada says.
The latest sensor research is focusing on collecting data on physiological processes, including the reductions in plant transpiration and changes in plant photosynthetic pigments. These provide earlier indicators of water needs, allowing for improved plant response to irrigation and increased water efficiency.
Meeting users’ needs
Dr Rose Brodrick leads CSIRO’s Water Wise project and agrees that the biggest barriers to adoption of precision irrigation are complexity and matching technology to user needs. But she says commercial uncertainty is also an issue for farmers.
They are hesitant to purchase new technology from a business that may not have longevity in the market. Dr Brodrick says there now signs that Australian irrigation technology companies can improve their commercial certainty through exports, which will give Australian farmers greater confidence to invest in their wares.
Peter Moller from Rubicon Water adds those designing systems need to think about needs and solutions end users require to solve their problems, and the providers of commercial products now can collaborate to help advance emerging technology.
Mr Moller says there are multiple irrigation operating platforms in the market. Suppliers need to agree at a commercial level to collaborate to bring these together, for the benefit of farmers who are operating all types of irrigation methods – pivot, drip, surface irrigation – and using a whole range of sensor technologies.
One example of this comes from California where American growers have established ag tech hubs to get researchers and designers onto farms, to gain a deeper understanding of farming environments. Mr Moller says in Australia, government agriculture departments in New South Wales and Victoria are using similar approaches to enable and encourage uptake of tech. They assist by developing use cases to prove the technology in use on farms, while demonstrating its economic and environmental benefits.