On-Farm Demonstration of Sensor-Based Irrigation Scheduling in South Carolina

The irrigation research and extension team at the Edisto Research and Education Center, in South Carolina, has developed an affordable soil moisture monitoring system for growers. The system uses low-cost open-source electronics, wireless and cell phone communication, and Internet-Of-Things (IoT) technologies. The system allows data from soil moisture sensors installed on farmer’s fields to be sent to the Internet in real-time.  The farmer can see a graphical display of the information on a computer screen or using a free cell phone app. The farmer can use this site-specific real-time information to make more timely and accurate decisions on when and how much irrigation is needed. There is a need to promote the adoption of this technology among farmers in the state.   Therefore, a new 3-year project funded by the new NRCS-CIG On-Farm-Trial program was initiated in 2020. The objectives of this project are to (1) Demonstrate the use of new sensor-based irrigation technology on commercial farms in South Carolina, (2) Evaluate the environmental and economic benefits of sensor-based irrigation technology, and (3) Train farmers and other water stakeholders in the state on the use and benefits of sensor-based irrigation technology. In 2020, on-farm trials were installed on 6 prototype fields, including cotton, peanuts, and soybean fields in local commercial farms. In each farm, two adjacent irrigated fields were selected.  The farmers were trained to irrigate one of the fields based on the data from the soil moisture monitoring system and a few simple guidelines, while they could irrigate the other field following their normal irrigation practice. Suction lysimeters were also installed at 3 soil depths in both fields to collect leachate and quantify the environmental impact of the two irrigation management practices. Relevant agronomic and economic information was collected to compare the economic impact of the two irrigation management options.