Demonstrated benefits of using sensor networks for automated irrigation control in nursery and greenhouse production systems

Abstract

Over the past six years, our national team has developed, tested and commercialized wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and advanced software which allows for automated decision irrigation, based on grower-defined irrigation strategies. WSNs have been implemented in ten commercial greenhouses and nurseries across the Unites States, where irrigation events are automatically controlled based on soil/substrate moisture measurements, or by modeled crop water use. Sensor networks provide growers with real-time soil moisture and environmental data from their own production systems, accessible from their cell phones over the internet. We have learned that growers make much better irrigation management decisions once they have access to their own data, i.e., information they trust and can control. Our research with commercial operations has enabled us to document the numerous economic and environmental benefits of sensor networks (http://smart-farms.org/impacts). We have consistently seen large (40-70%) reductions in irrigation water use in field (soil) as well as container (soilless) production systems. For most growers, the cost of water is low compared to other variable costs, such as labor. However, reduced water irrigation time (duration) typically translates into more operational flexibility, including being able to irrigate additional production areas. We have demonstrated that most sensor networks have a typical return on investment of less than six months. We have shown that incremental economic benefits accrue from increased crop yield and quality, reduced production times, demonstrated reductions in fertilizer use and nutrient leaching, reductions in root disease and the effective use of deficit irrigation for non-chemical growth regulation.