VNR: $2.4M federal grant boosts UH’s AI-driven farm irrigation system

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A University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa-led project using artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionize farming irrigation practices has received a $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This initiative represents a significant step toward sustainable water use in Hawaiʻi's agricultural sector.

"This technology has the potential to transform irrigation practices across Hawaiʻi, helping our farmers conserve water while maximizing crop yields," said Sayed Bateni, project principal investigator and professor in the UH Mānoa Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering and Water Resources Research Center (WRRC). "By putting AI-enhanced tools directly into the hands of local producers, we're not just developing new technology-we're cultivating a more sustainable and resilient agricultural future for our islands."

Despite abundant rainfall in some areas, Hawaiʻi's high seasonal variability often leaves vegetable crops without adequate water throughout the year. The project will leverage data from a dense network of weather stations across the islands, feeding it into an innovative AI-enhanced irrigation management system.

According to co-principal investigator Jonathan Deenik, department chair, professor and extension specialist in the Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, farmers in Hawaiʻi have the opportunity to effectively and efficiently reduce irrigation water and enhance yields by adopting CropManage.

"The AI enhanced CropManage irrigation scheduling software will assist farmers better match water delivery to meet specific crop water needs with multiple benefits including conservation of precious fresh water resources, increased profitability for farmers through the reduction in water costs and increased overall sustainability of agriculture in Hawaiʻi," Deenik said.

How it works

Farmers can easily create an account on the CropManage irrigation tool and add the characteristics of their farms (e.g., crop type, acre, location, irrigation system, etc.) to CropManage. This irrigation tool determines when and by how much farmers need to irrigate each crop type in their farms.

Fourteen collaborating farms will host intensive on-farm irrigation trials to test and refine the technology. Results from these trials will be shared with agricultural producers, aiming to encourage widespread adoption of the advanced irrigation management tool. The project is expected to start in 2024 and end in 2029.

This project is a joint effort among WRRC, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and College of Engineering at UH Mānoa, and the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.

This is one of 53 Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) projects around the nation that earned a total of $90 million, which supports the development of new tools, approaches, practices and technologies to further natural resource conservation on private lands. Increased funds were available in 2024 due to President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, which is funding CIG projects that address climate change. The Biden-Harris administration announced the funding awards in July 2024.

Link to video and sound (details below): https://spaces.hightail.com/receive/7htPNqHKqd

VIDEO:

BROLL: (1:34)

0:00-1:01 - GoFarm Hawai'i clips

1:01-1:22 - Food prep

1:22-1:34 - Photos of weather stations being utilized in this research

SOUNDBITES:

Sayed Bateni, UH Project Principal Investigator and UH Mānoa Professor

(0:18)

"Preliminary results show that CropManage could reduce the amount of irrigation water by 35% or even sometimes 40%, and enhance crop yields by 20% or even more. So CropManage lowers farmers' cost of water and labor through fewer irrigation events."

(0:17)

"It also has direct benefits for our state and society because CropManage can increase the resilience and sustainability of Hawaiʻi agriculture in the face of a changing climate. And it also increases the conservation of our water resources in Hawaiʻi."

(0:13)

"The software utilizes weather data and by weather data, I mean rainfall, air temperature, humidity, wind speed and so on and also soil type and crop type to guide growers in the management of water.