Irrigator Pro is a peanut irrigation scheduling tool developed by USDA ARS National Peanut Research Laboratory (NPRL) that has been proven to result in improved efficiency and profitability. Up until 2018, Irrigator Pro required the user to physically visit the field to collect data for the model. Over the last five years UGA, NPRL, and the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District (FRSWCD) have pooled resources and worked together to develop a new generation Irrigator Pro that we will hereafter refer to as the Irrigator Pro App. The Irrigator Pro App uses automatically collected soil moisture and soil temperature to make irrigation scheduling decisions. The objective of this project is to modify the Irrigator Pro App to accept data directly from volumetric water content (VWC) sensors that are also referred to as capacitance sensors. These are the most common sensor-type on the market and some have excellent telemetry systems that ensure reliable delivery of data to the cloud server. This will make Irrigator Pro a much more flexible irrigation scheduling tool and allow growers who have already invested in VWC sensors to seamlessly use the model. The VWC version of the Irrigator Pro App is now in beta testing by selected peanut growers in Georgia.
Project Graduate Student: Giannis Gallios (M.S.)
Funded by the Georgia Peanut Commission