Cost Reduction Technology
Akshara Asery shows how new technology can save costs through irrigation practices.
Florida vegetable growers rank second in the nation in total vegetable sales and third in corn production. Fresh corn contributes more than $1 million annually to the state's economy. Selling corn is a profitable commodity, but Akshara Asery is showing growers how new technology can save them money through irrigation methods. (Photo by UF/IFAS)
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Florida vegetable growers rank second in the nation in total vegetable sales and third in corn production. Fresh corn contributes more than $1 million annually to the state's economy. Selling corn is a profitable commodity, but Akshara Asery is showing growers how new technology can help them save money through irrigation methods.
“Florida vegetable growers have been very successful,” says Ussery, a doctoral student at the University of Florida's Indian River Research and Education Center (IRREC) in Fort Pierce, Florida, which is part of the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS). “My research focuses on evaluating the adoption of smart technology in irrigation schedules for vegetable growers (mostly sweet corn). I communicate my scientific findings to county extension faculty and together we show growers how this technology can optimize their production operations.”
Sandra Guzman, assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering, leads a team of scientists at IRREC's Smart Irrigation and Hydrology Laboratory, which sets up IrrigMonitor, a centralized irrigation management tool used by growers. Guzman oversees Ussery's research.
Guzman said Gregory Conde, an associate postdoctoral researcher at IRREC, played a key role in integrating machine learning into IrrigMonitor, enhancing the tool's capabilities to make irrigation recommendations.
“Gregory's work in scheduling infiltration irrigation in Central and South Florida is groundbreaking and addresses the unique needs of South Florida growers,” said Guzman. “Akshara's efforts to make IrrigMonitor and other smart tools available to growers are critical to expanding our scientific solutions. Data from the sensors and irrigation recommendations from IrrigMonitor helped one sweet corn grower reduce the water he uses to irrigate his fields with infiltration irrigation by 40%.”
“We have developed algorithms that integrate soil physics and irrigation knowledge with real-time data to help growers optimize their irrigation methods,” Conde said. “Preliminary results show that growers can increase crop yields and use more than 30% less water, thereby saving money and reducing their environmental impact. These algorithms are now built into IrrigMonitor, and the possibility of extending these benefits to more growers is what drives our continued research and development.”
Soil moisture probes are similar to radar machines, with sensors placed across 24 inches of soil. As part of Athelly's research, Conde and his team will work with three sweet corn growers. Akshara will learn about the growers' operations and install soil moisture sensors in their crop fields. The sensors will collect data that shows how much moisture is in the soil, and this data will be processed along with other sources of information by Conde's IrrigMonitor.
“The graphs and charts generated by IrrigMonitor help us assess irrigation needs and optimise crop management,” says Athelly. “We use weather data and forecasts to determine how much irrigation a crop will need several days in advance.”
Ussery works with UF/IFAS extension agents who work directly with food producers in central and southern Florida. The agents provide growers with advice on when crops need irrigation and how many hours they should irrigate. Farmers receive an email every three days with specific instructions for operating their fields. Rain forecasts are often part of the advice, greatly reducing the need for irrigation.
Athelly said of a grower he works with, “After using the IrrigMonitor and our recommendations, he was able to save six million gallons of water in one season.”
Irrigation methods are unique to South Florida, primarily because of the shallow water table, meaning water is available close to soil level and growers rely on infiltration irrigation methods, or channel systems that include a wide channel and multiple narrow channels. The channels fill with water and rise to ground level, reaching the roots of the crops, Ussery says.
“Growers know their land well and have been growing crops for centuries,” Ussery says. “I have to show them how to use new technology to make their operations even more profitable and find a path forward. Growers are not used to relying on this technology and often think the costs of sensors and data generation are too high, but when they see the savings, they want to have sensors in their fields.”
Additionally, Ussery said proper irrigation management preserves nutrients in the corn. “Too much water washes away valuable nutrients in the corn.”
Asely said his team at the IRREC Smart Irrigation and Hydrology Laboratory is working on developing soil moisture sensors and a mobile phone application (app) to give growers access to the data they generate. Once complete, the app will provide similar advice to the one Asely and agricultural extension agents are sending to corn growers.
“Right now we're talking about things like apps, but in the future there will be apps that growers can use,” Ussery said.
Asely said Guzman's smart irrigation team aims to use database solutions to improve irrigation management among growers and demonstrate that these solutions have value to crop production. “Reduced irrigation costs is one big benefit, but the ability to produce more nutritious crops is groundbreaking on an even deeper level,” Asely said.
–Robin Coestoyo, UF/IFAS
