Project Puts AI-Powered Irrigation to the Test for Growers

An almond orchard in Parlier, CA, is providing a look into the future of farming. Researchers at UC Merced and the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources installed an irrigation system powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver the precise amount of water needed and measure the results.

Led by computer science and engineering Professor Wan Du, the project was funded through the Fall 2023 Climate Action Seed Funds. It included a goal that’s almost as important as the work itself: spreading the word about the system and its potential.

The project includes two test beds: one irrigated via traditional methods and one served by the AI-powered system. Du is working alongside civil and environmental engineering Professor Safeeq Khan, a water resource management and soil science expert who built the soil model for the project, and computer science and engineering Professor Stefano Carpin, who developed the AI model.

“We will compare how much water each test bed will use,” Du says, “and then compare the production and result of these two fields.”

The system measures how much moisture is in the soil, then the potential for movement of water through a tree and eventually out the leaves. The data is uploaded to the internet.

“We have sprinklers under almost every tree so we can control them,” Du adds. An algorithm processes the data and determines whether to open a sprinkler and how long it should run.

“We want to save as much water as we can,” Du says. “Saving water will reduce the cost to growers, and we can save the natural resource for the next generation.”

The system will be operational next spring, when the trees start to flower.

For more, continue reading at ucmerced.edu/news.