Using Water More Efficiently

Problem

How can food crop production keep pace with a growing human population while water resources are becoming increasingly limited?

• Agriculture accounts for approximately 80 percent of the nation's consumptive water use in the United States.
• Inefficient water usage, including both over- or under-irrigation, can impact production costs and environmental quality as well as crop yield and quality.

Findings

In a study involving fresh-market tomatoes, researchers tested the effect of four irrigation-scheduling treatments using an internet of things, or IoT, system to monitor soil moisture sensors. When soil moisture levels reached a specified threshold, an automated precision irrigation system would then activate.

• They reported that throughout the growing season, the overall water-use efficiencies of the methods ranged from 22-28 percent above the control, and they produced 15-22 percent higher marketable fruit yield than normal.

Impact

This simple and relatively inexpensive technology demonstrates how precision agriculture technologies can avoid plant water stress at critical growth stages based on site-specific conditions.

Research Credit

Team

• Haozhe Zhang, Long He, Francesco Di Gioia, Daeun Choi, Antonio Elia, Paul Heinemann

Participating Departments

• Agricultural and Biological Engineering
• Plant Science

Partners

• Penn State Fruit Research and Extension Center
• University of Foggia, Italy

Competitive Funding

• USDA NE SARE; Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers
• Association; State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania (SHAP)

Federal and State Appropriations

• USDA NIFA Hatch Multistate Project PEN04653, Accession #1016510 and Hatch Project PEN04723, Accession #1020664

Emerging Discoveries

Internet-based precision irrigation system shows promise for fresh-market tomato

May 17, 2022

An “internet of things” — or IoT — system monitoring real-time data from soil-based sensors to activate an automated precision irrigation setup can conserve water and boost crop production, according to a team of Penn State researchers.

Published Research

LoRaWAN based internet of things (IoT) system for precision irrigation in plasticulture fresh-market tomato

• Zhang, H., He, L., Di Gioia, F., Choi, D., Elia, A., Heinemann, P. (2022). LoRaWAN based internet of things (IoT) system for precision irrigation in plasticulture fresh-market tomato. Smart Agricultural Technology, 2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atech.2022.100053