Digital tools for sustainable water management

Issue Date

7-2018

Abstract

Globally, agriculture use approx 70% of freshwater and of which, 40% is used for rice cultivation. The alternate wetting and drying (AWD) is one of such water management techniques which can save water up to 30%. However, its adoption has been slow because of many challenges like (a) water is managed by farmers' association, (b) the technology cannot be extrapolated to command area, and (c) it is knowledge, labor and time intensive. IRRI and PhilRice have developed decision tool called AutoMon sup PH that will automatically inform the farmer, water-user association leader, or irrigation water resources technician on the schedule of irrigation based on the threshold level of 'Safe AWD'. The study looked into using multiple sensor principles (capacitive, ultrasonic, infrared, resistive) and testing the sensors under varying water conditions (constant and variable head, saline and turbid water) to assess accuracy of water level. It was determined that ultrasonic and capacitance principles exhibited a +/- accuracy of 0.2 to 0.4 cm from actual measured water level values. Different modes of data transmission (Wi-Fi, Sub-Ghz, and GSM) were tested and all from were found to be useful based on the criteria used for AWD, improvement in site selection practices by shifting to remote based criterion using an unmanned aerial system to assess field topography was explored. This entails drone mapping and assessing elevation to identify field variations, which is difficult to conduct at point based method where selection is done at ground level only. Results from this study will establish baseline information and decision logic for the use of the technology in actual farmers' fields. Scaling up of this technology is expected to improve access to information, foster effective coordination among stakeholders, and promote transparency in water governance thereby catalyzing the adoption water saving technologies.

Source or Periodical Title

Philippine Journal of Crop Science

ISSN

0115-463X

Volume

43

Issue

Supplement no. 1

Page

36

Document Type

Article

Language

English

Subject

Oryza sativa L.; Water management

En – AGROVOC descriptors

ORYZA SATIVA; WATER MANAGEMENT; WATER USE; EFFICIENCY; MONITORING; DECISION SUPPORT

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