Making the invisible visible
Delivering data at the right time and in the right form has been an important component of the Irrigation Insight programme and it is paying dividends for the pilot farmers.
The NIWA-led Irrigation Insight programme is a joint industry-CRI research and extension programme funded by MBIE. Programme participants are examining the ease and effectiveness of using improved weather forecasting and drainage estimations for on-farm water management. The programme involves 20 irrigating dairy farmers across the Canterbury region who have been working with the Irrigation Insight team since 2016.
The programme team does not tell the farmers in the pilot when or when not to irrigate, but provides relevant information and training to enable them to make those decisions independently. The team has developed a farm-specific web portal that delivers decision-focussed information in new ways.
“Essentially, we have made the invisible visible,” says NIWA Principal Scientist and programme lead MS Srinivasan.
“Our Insight plot shows soil moisture profiles in 10cm increments through an 80-cm grass root zone. Users can see soil moisture responses to evapotranspiration, rainfall and irrigation events across time. We then add a six-day site-specific weather forecast, allowing the farmer to see how soil moisture will change with no irrigation events over that period.”
Farmers can then consider both soil moisture demand and supply on their farm before making informed irrigation decisions.
Spatial variability can be accounted for by using soil moisture probes at different locations on each farm – the Insight plots clearly show the difference in soil moisture response between heavy and light soils.
The same plots help farmers monitor the results of irrigation events, including whether irrigation water is retained in the root zone or drains below the root zone. Farmers can select the date range they would like to review, including the whole irrigation season.
“Our pilot farmers are utilising this data in ways that are sometimes unexpected,” say MS.
“It is great to see complex data being considered and the confident decision-making as a result.”
The programme team are continuing to refine the Irrigation Insight tools based on the experience and feedback of the 20 pilot farmers using the prototype web-portal.
To stay up-to-date on the programme visit www.irrigationinsight.co.nz
