Researchers from the Gandia Campus of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), in collaboration with the Miguel Hernandez de Elche University (UMH), carried out a study evaluating the efficiency of irrigation in citrus crops in eastern Spain.
"We have determined that using artificial intelligence with this data allows achieving a clear reduction in water and energy use. This is a new tool for farmers in these techniques," stated Jaime Lloret, a member of the research team from the Gandia Campus in the Go-innoWater project and director of the Research Institute for Integrated Coastal Zone Management (IGIC).
"The indicators we used in the study will help identify the varieties and agronomic practices that have the best yields and use water most efficiently," stated Lorena Parra, IGIC researcher.
Researchers selected 5 indicators to evaluate the performance in the water supply, its productivity, and economic efficiency. They studied if the irrigation and effective precipitation covered the needs of the crop, the relationships between the volume of irrigation used, the global harvest, and optimum fruit quality, as well as the production's sales figures and the cost of irrigation water.
They applied these indicators to a real database of citrus plots, obtained from a community of irrigators and a cooperative of farmers in the studied area, over five years. According to Roig, co-responsible for the study at the Gandia Campus, "the objective of the comparative evaluation is to use the indicators to find the most efficient orchards and share their agricultural practices with the rest to improve efficiency at the community level."
Artificial intelligence
The study also implemented an artificial intelligence system to predict the productive efficiency of a citrus orchard based on its size and water supply. "Artificial intelligence is used in combination with one of the indicators to establish irrigation management recommendations for farmers," stated Jaime Lloret, an expert in artificial intelligence. These recommendations can prevent water misuse, helping farmers increase their productivity while reducing costs.
Go-innoWater
The research, which was published in the Agronomy Journal, shows a preliminary application of this type of indicator in the Go-innoWater project, the supra-autonomous group focused on improving energy and water use in modernized irrigation of fruit trees.
Source: elperiodic.com
