PRECISION IRRIGATION


Cloud-based control derived from controlled environment agriculture can also be utilized for conventional agriculture.


BY FRANK TOVES, CAIS, CID, CIC


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Precision irrigation offers established tools for today and exciting options for the future.


he amount of technology we incorporate into our everyday lives has increased exponentially over the last decade. Our cell phones are no longer simple devices for communication. They have become our calendars, cameras, computers, navigation and almost everything else in between. I can control the temperature


of my house, unlock the front door and monitor who is standing on my porch with a simple voice command to my smart home device — literally without lifting a finger.


Yet on many farms, a typical irrigation event consists of an irrigator manually opening valves in the field, turning on the pump, and then monitoring pressures and flow rates and checking for potential issues throughout the field. Once the irrigation event is complete, the irrigator must hurry back to shut off the pump, close the valves and then repeat the process over again for the next set. At the end of the day there is little to no data collected or verification of water or fertilizers applied.


14 Irrigation TODAY | Fall 2020 irrigationtoday.org


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