Development of an Advanced Precision Drip Irrigation System for Tree Crops

DRIP’s OBJECT

DRIP’s object is the use of state-of-the-art technologies and methods for the development of a high-precision irrigation system for tree crops, based on the utilization of drip irrigation systems and the ability to monitor in real time and direct assessment of soil moisture at tree level and not at field level, so that the water supply accurately covers its needs.

DRIP’s development included the following stages:

Data Mining Research Structures

Development of monitoring structures and systems, which will allow the necessary irrigation tests to be carried out and the necessary data to be extracted, which will be required for the simulation of soil moisture and the final development of DRIP.

Olive Tree Irrigation and Collection Data

Carrying out a series of tests on all structures and collecting and analyzing data, both during the irrigation period and during the rainy season, including quantitative and qualitative data on tree growth and yield.

Study and Simulation of Soil Moisture

Development of the soil moisture simulation model based on the data that will result from the irrigation tests, in order to develop the software that will control the operation of the DRIP system.

High Precision Drip Irrigation System

Development of an integrated high-precision drip irrigation system (DRIP) that will allow the supply of the absolutely necessary amount of water to each tree separately and that will be controlled by a soil moisture assessment software and a series of IoT tools.

Technical and Financial Evaluation of DRIP

Feasibility study of the DRIP system, which aims to assess the cost of construction and application of the technology and the conditions under which its utilization implies in addition to environmental benefit and clear economic benefit for the grower.

The results can be applied to the field via an application programming interface (API):

Accepts data of cultivation, soil, irrigation, weather forecast.

Provides information on the interval and amount of irrigation for the next 3 days.

DRIP’s GOALS

PRESERVATION OF PRODUCTION

Maintaining production at current minimum levels, even in the future where climate change is expected to adversely affect all parameters related to both plant needs and water availability.

REDUCTION OF IRRIGATION WATER CONSUMPTION

Reduction of water consumption per kg of product produced, in order to improve the economic size of production under the current conditions but also as a measure to adapt to the effects of climate change and increased production needs.

RATIONAL MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES

Rational management of water resources, with a view to supporting the productive process and the rural economy and bridging the gap between the need to protect and conserve water resources and agricultural exploitation within the EU.