Progress 09/01/09 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Our research and outreach team focused on improving variable rate irrigation systems, soil moisture sensing and wireless data transmission of that information. During this project we evaluated methods to make the nozzle communications and control systems of the irrigation system self-powering. Water and air pressure were evaluated along with electric solenoids as methods to open and close the valves that enabled variable rate water applications. Different radio communication systems and frequencies were studied for power consumption, reach, degradation and reliability. The use of low frequency bands for the long-range transmission of small data packets was added in the 2012 season, as was a new program designed to add advanced weather models to further refine irrigation strategies. The Stripling Irrigation Center's subsurface drip irrigation project has completed its second year, and includes 9 subsurface drip plots and 2 overhead plots. The pan/tilt/zoom tower camera and the Wi-Fi hot spots established at the Stripling Irrigation Research Park have assisted research through better information gathering and transmission. We recently started a teacher (K-12) summer internship program that incorporated water use efficiency, water quality, and energy use efficiency. Dissemination of this project's results is through several web-sites including, http://www.nespal.org/SIRP/, http://www.nespal.org/vri.html, and http://www.nespal.org/futurefarmstead/, through field days at the Stripling Irrigation Park near Camilla, GA, and on the UGA Tifton Campus, and through publications in several scientific and popular press publications. The Stripling Irrigation Park has primary responsibility for field days, training sessions and fostering industry, federal and state agency and other private and public collaborations. Close working relationships on this project include the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District, The Nature Conservancy, IBM, USDA/ARS, USDA/NRCS, Farm Scan LLC, Cotton and Peanut grower organizations. PARTICIPANTS: This research program involved a large group of University of Georgia research scientists and technicians working together on the Tifton, GA campus in the area of precision agriculture. The Stripling Irrigation Park near Camilla, GA, has a primary focus on irrigation efficiencies, and the Stripling Director, Calvin Perry collaborates with the over 75 growers who have installed these systems, in six states. In addition, the project collaborates with the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District, The Nature Conservancy, IBM, USDA/NRCS, Farm Scan LLC, and Holder Ag. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience for these technologies is farmers with center pivot irrigation systems. Secondary targets are members of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, irrigation research scientists and extension specialists, and NRCS. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Agriculture relies upon improving and expanding irrigation to help meet increased food demands. The variable rate irrigation system developed as part of this program, improves irrigation efficiencies an average of 12%, by tailoring water applications within a single field to zones - with some areas receiving more and some less - due to soil type, topography, crop and other attributes. This variable rate system has been commercialized and is now on over 75 sites across the Southeast and Midwest. Like most things electronic, the older generation variable rate irrigation control systems now need an updating - a new controller and GPS unit. This update, while anticipated, will require continued documentation of value, and outreach to growers that are used to replacing irrigation parts on a much longer cycle. To date we have not been successful at making a rugged, low-cost, self powered communications and control nozzle. Use of a water pressure instead of air pressure to close Bermod valves does show promise, and may make the system less expensive and complicated, evaluation of this system continues. The key to implementing remote soil moisture monitoring lies more in the data transmission component than in the sensor, and we are hopeful that very low frequencies will aid efforts to move signals through vegetative canopies. Subsurface drip irrigation studies have been helpful in determining the strengths and weaknesses of these systems. In many of the sandy loam soils subsurface drip needs to be at 8" or less to wet the germination zone. Yet shallow tubing is likely to be damaged from tillage operations including peanut diggers. Monitoring and maintenance of subsurface drip is also a challenge, and often results in higher costs than initially anticipated. Thus, center pivot systems appear to have advantages over sub-surface drip in many South Georgia fields.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: During 2011, the first commercially available variable-rate irrigation control system was purchased and installed on a linear-move irrigation system at the Stripling Irrigation Research Park in Camilla, Georgia. Prior to this, variable-rate systems have been designed and used on center pivot irrigation systems only. Having variable rate capability on linear-move systems improves irrigation research efficiencies and precision, as research plots are much easier to manage with a system that moves over the land in a rectangular pattern - as opposed to a circle. With a single pass of the linear variable-rate system, 12 control zones along the system's mainline can be individually programmed (GPS guidance) to apply water from 0% of base amount up to 100% of base amount, in increments of 10%. This allows for multiple replications of test plots with varying water needs in a single pass. During the past two years we have been comparing the mesh-network based UGA smart sensor array for soil moisture sensing with two commercially-available soil moisture sensing systems (AquaSpy - capacitance sensors linked by radio nodes, and SmartCrop - IR canopy sensors linked to a radio-based system) that also integrate local weather information. In the study twelve soil moisture sensor stations, each with Watermark sensors at 3 depths were tested at a commercial cotton farm in Mitchell County. An additional 8 sensor stations were tested at the Stripling Park, also in cotton. As part of the test, our team developed software to work with the mesh network and log data from the smart sensor array stations. Also being evaluated at the Stripling Irrigation Park and at the Southeast Research and Education Center in Midville, Georgia is a new subsurface drip irrigation project. Four, half-circle pivots were divided into subsurface drip and overhead-sprinkler irrigated quadrants. In this randomized and replicated study, there are nine subsurface drip plots and two overhead plots. The plots include two depths of drip tape (3" and 12"), two irrigation schemes (full and deficit), two SSDI water application methods (continuous and pulsed), and four cotton varieties. Soil moisture stations provide feedback on current conditions. Dissemination of results is through the project web-site (http://www.nespal.org/vri.html), through field days at the Stripling Irrigation Park near Camilla, GA, and through collaborations with the over 50 cooperating growers, in nine states now with VRI systems, the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District, The Nature Conservancy, USDA/NRCS, Farm Scan LLC, and Holder Ag. The Stripling Irrigation Park has primary responsibility for field days, training sessions and fostering industry, federal and state agency and other private and public collaborations. Close working relationships on this project include the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District, The Nature Conservancy, USDA/NRCS, Farm Scan LLC, Holder Ag, Ag Networks, cotton and peanut grower organizations. PARTICIPANTS: This research program involved a large group of University of Georgia research scientists and technicians working together on the Tifton, GA campus in the area of precision agriculture. The Stripling Irrigation Park near Camilla, GA, has a primary focus on irrigation efficiencies and the Stripling Director, Calvin Perry collaborates with the over 50 growers who have installed these systems, in nine states. In addition, the project collaborates with the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District, The Nature Conservancy, USDA/NRCS, Farm Scan LLC, and Holder Ag. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience for these technologies is farmers with center pivot irrigation systems. Secondary targets are members of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, irrigation research scientists and extension specialists, and NRCS. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: No project modifications
Impacts
Because water is such a valuable, and limited resource for agriculture, manufacturing, and for use in the home, many states, including Georgia, have organized regional and state water planning committees. Our team has helped these committees by providing agricultural water use and impact data. Non-agriculture users have great difficulty understanding why farmers need so much water. With record heat and drought in Georgia and other states this year, the concerns over how water is used continues to increase. Manufacturing industries and homeowners can document more efficient use of water, and it is important that agriculture do the same. This project, and many others, has documented methods that farmers draw on to more efficiently use water. We have found that variable rate irrigation can improve water use efficiency by 15%, and that similar gains result from low-pressure drop nozzles, advanced irrigation scheduling and conservation tillage. Studies at the Stripling Irrigation Park on subsurface drip also promise to improve water use efficiencies and crop quality. Row crop growers are particularly interested in using subsurface drip to aid crop production and quality in the spots where their pivot irrigation does not do an adequate job, such as the field corners. Subsurface drip is cost-competitive with sprinklers in fields under 60 acres and generally uses less water, keeps the soil moisture levels higher and has resulted in equal or better yields. All of the soil moisture sensing systems aided irrigation management. Mesh networked soil sensors are better able to handle topography and crop canopy challenges to wireless information exchange than standard wireless systems. Sensor location, and multiple sensors, given variable soil and topographic differences within the fields, was very critical in determining performance. The peanut variety Tiftguard developed for improved pest resistance and water use efficiency has grown in popularity during the past two seasons. In 2011, the nematode resistance of this variety became even more important, as Temik was no longer available. Thus the variety is aiding both water use efficiency and helping water quality. To help those both within and outside of agriculture understand the importance of irrigation, our team has documented how agricultural irrigation systems result in more efficient use of inputs, including time, fuel, fertilizer, ag chemicals and seed. Irrigated farmers reduce risks by forward-marketing and improve potential return by growing higher value crops like fruit, nut, vegetable, and the green industry. Banks also push farmers toward irrigation by offering loans at better rates, and communities with irrigated farming have remained more stable than those without irrigation. Water has proven so important to survival of their farm enterprises, that Georgia farmers alone have invested more than $100 billion in their own irrigation infrastructure - wells, ponds, distribution and irrigation equipment. Without it they have little hope of staying in business.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/01/09 to 08/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: In 2010 our team researched an improved mesh-network based UGA smart sensor array which uses Watermark sensors along with two other commercially-available soil moisture sensing systems - AquaSpy (which uses capacitance sensors linked via radio nodes to a network and PC-based software) and SmartCrop (which uses IR canopy temperature sensors also linked to a radio-based network and PC), both of which also integrate local weather information. All systems aided in the management of irrigation. The importance of sensor location and multiple sensors within fields was evident in. To enhance understanding of subsurface drip irrigation a new project was started at Stripling Irrigation Park and at the Southeast Research and Education Center near Midville, Georgia. At Stripling there are 9 subsurface drip plots and 2 overhead plots. Additional information can be found at http://www.nespal.org/SIRP/ . Both inter-state and intra-state concerns over water have prompted Georgia agencies and policy makers to markedly expand water planning. With more than 1.5 million acres of row crop, orchard, produce, and green industry plants under irrigation, agricultural is one of the State's largest water users. Planners requested comprehensive examination of current practices and quantities, as well as estimates of future agricultural water needs in all areas of the state. A four-part approach was used to provide water needs estimates. A comprehensive irrigation survey was conducted by Extension to identify cropping practices on irrigated fields. This extended results of surveys conducted every 3 to 4 years providing one look at trends in irrigation. Econometric models were then developed using three levels of data - National, Southeastern, and Georgia - that would project future statewide production of specific commodities for both short and long term. An average of the three models was used to estimate future planting intentions and by assumption irrigation intentions through 2050. Econometric models estimate an average of 20 percent growth over the 40-year time horizon in irrigated commodities. Annual water withdrawals that currently top 900 mgd statewide, will need to increase by about 200 mgd, assuming existing technology, to sustain economically viable levels of production at projected demands. Dissemination of results is through the project-related web-sites (http://www.nespal.org/vri.html and http://www.nespal.org/SIRP/ ), through field days at the Stripling Irrigation Park near Camilla, GA, through a yearly insert in Cotton Farming and Peanut Grower magazines, through collaborations with the over 50 cooperating growers, in six states (GA, AL, Fl, SC, ND and AK) now with VRI systems, through Georgia's state water use planning commissions, Cooperative Extension, the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District, The Nature Conservancy, USDA/NRCS, Farm Scan LLC, and Valley Irrigation. The use of tradenames is for reader information and should not be considered and endorsement. PARTICIPANTS: This research program involved a large group of University of Georgia research scientists and technicians working together on the Tifton, GA campus in the area of precision agriculture. The Stripling Irrigation Park near Camilla, GA, has a primary focus on irrigation efficiencies and the Stripling Director, Calvin Perry collaborates with the over 50 growers who have installed these systems, in six states. In addition, the project collaborates with the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District, The Nature Conservancy, USDA/NRCS, Farm Scan LLC, Holder Ag and Valley Irrigation. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience for these technologies is farmers with center pivot irrigation systems, and those that have or are considering sub-surface drip irrigation. Secondary targets are members of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, irrigation research scientists and extension specialists, the NRCS and State Water Management groups. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
The variable rate irrigation system developed as part of this project was tested on over 50 sites across the Southeast and Midwest in conjunction with many farmers, USDA and commercial partners. The variable rate system was commercialized by Computronics, who has now partnered with Valley Irrigation, which will further enhance the system and offer it for sale through their extensive network of dealers worldwide. Work continues to simplify the system and to add remote soil moisture monitoring. Management of irrigation water is aided by better knowledge of soil moisture, yet to fit into most production systems the gathering of this information must be quick and reliable. This past year resulted in improved knowledge of remote soil moisture monitoring systems and also marked the beginning of a new group of subsurface drip irrigation studies. Subsurface drip systems are common in vegetable production fields and growing in popularity among row crop farmers to irrigate small irregularly shaped fields and pivot corners. Both variable rate sprinkler irrigation and subsurface drip systems save water while improving crop quality and yield. Information on past, current and projected future needs in irrigation water is aiding renewed efforts in state water use planning. The economy of the states rural counties is dependant on agriculture. Southwest Georgia is particularly dependant on irrigated agriculture, as most lending institutions will not provide loans to growers without irrigation. From the development of technology and new cultivars to the gathering of information needed for policy development this research project is helping regional and national agriculture make better use of one of its most critical inputs - water.
Publications
- Perry, C.D. 2010. Wireless Data Delivery for Water Management in Cotton. Cotton Inc. 2010 Crop Management Seminar and Workshop Memphis, TN Nov 9-11, 2010.
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